From Start To Finish
by StudioEden
Summary: Bonkai AU: Canon up to partway of 4x19. Bonnie Bennett has had enough. She's tired. But her Grams says it's not her time and sends her away for a bit. This little vacation is just the beginning for a life that Bonnie never expected.
1. Chapter 1

When Bonnie came to, she was lying in a field of grass. The sun was warm on her face and there was a gentle gust of wind that threatened to force her hair to tickle the skin beneath her nose. Her eyelids fluttered, malachite hues brightening to the sight of a washed-out blue tint that splayed itself across the canopy of trees. A low groan pushed itself up from her chest as she remembered the last twenty minutes and mentally kicked herself.

"Shit!"

"Language, young lady!"

For a moment, Bonnie had forgotten to breathe. Because she hadn't heard that voice in a very long time. The voice of the one person who had remained constant in her life for a very long time. Sitting up slowly, Bonnie craned her neck and saw the image of her Grams slowly approaching her from the edge of the forest nearby.

"G-Grams?"

Without even questioning it, the young witch scrambled to her feet and hurled herself into her grandmother's arms. Bonnie bit back a sob that was lodged in her throat - threatening to spill out of her as tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. She took comfort in the warmth that exuded from her as Sheila stroked through her hair in soothing motions. The older witch's shushing had calmed the trembling of her shoulders and it calmed Bonnie long enough to pull back so her Grams could wipe her tears fo her face.

"What are you doing here, Grams?"

Her grandmother's lips formed into a thin line - brows furrowing in both concern and hesitation. Bonnie canted her head slightly.

"Did something happen?"

It was the only explanation that she could come up with. And it had to have been important, considering what had been happening not even ten minutes ago. Her grandmother wouldn't interrupt something like that unless it was important or…

And then it hit Bonnie. It was like a mountain had collapsed in her stomach and the world around her grew just a little bit darker despite the sun being out. Her grandmother continued to hold her by the shoulders and, despite her sudden revelation, Bonnie couldn't stop the bemused smirk from spreading across her lips.

"I'm dead..."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact. Bonnie had died and she was now on The Other Side.

She suddenly sputtered into a tiny fit of laughter. "...well, damn."

* * *

It took about an hour for Bonnie to finally settle down. Her Grams led her out of the forest and toward a small cottage. Curious as to why they weren't heading to her home, Bonnie seemed to hesitate a margin. However, the knowing glance Grams gave her was enough to urge her steps forward again. She could only assume that her grandmother didn't want to keep repeating her days on The Other Side as she had in life and, as a result, opted to live in a place close to the forest.

Once inside, Bonnie drank in her surroundings and couldn't help but smile at the modest furnishings and decorations. It was minimalistic but functional. Her Grams had added in her personal touches, of course, but otherwise it felt different. But not in the bad way. Just...different.

Sinking onto a nearby couch, Bonnie faced her Grams when the older witch took her hands in hers. They drank in each other's presences a little longer before Bonnie sighed. May as well address the Elephant in Room.

"So," she started, almost surprised at how foreign her voice sounded in her ears, "how long have I been dead?"

"Not long." Sheila sighed. "A couple of hours, maybe?"

"Has anyone found my body yet?" Bonnie paused, biting back the urge to laugh. "Is there even a _body_ to be found?"

The older Bennett witch shook her head. "No, Baby. No one has found you yet." A pained smile formed on her Grams' lips. "Though, I imagine it won't take long for Caroline to locate you."

"Good." She wasn't too keen on the idea of her body being food for the animals. "...and the other-"

"Dead." Sheila gave a wistful smile. "All of them."

Bonnie held a hand up in the air and patted the empty space above. "Praise."

"Did you want to talk to her?" Bonnie met her grandmother's expectant gaze. "Caroline, I mean."

She thought about saying something, but the words didn't come. She shook her head roughly back and forth. "No point. She's been to one of my funerals. No need to subject her to another one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Bonnie said with a shrug. "Besides, I always told her that if I ever died to just burn my body. She knows the game plan."

There was another long stretch of silence that echoed between them. It was at this moment that Bonnie realized that there was a fire roaring in the hearth just a few feet from her. Her eyes seemed to linger there, watching the pale flames dance along the logs with no real purpose. It felt like some unknown force was pulling Bonnie toward it.

It wasn't until the muffled sound of her Grams rang in her ears did she blink and pull herself from the pull of the flames. "Huh?" She turned to face the older woman. "What was that, Grams?"

Sheila shook her head and sighed. "I said that you don't belong here, baby."

Bonnie blinked. "What do you mean?"

She felt her grandmother's fingers raking through her hair, the tips resting at the base of her neck. "I want you to find peace, Bonnie. You won't find it here."

The younger Bennett witch smiled but her brows furrowed in confusion. "Grams, I'm here with you. What more do I need?" Bonnie felt her eyes moving back toward the fireplace. "Besides, I'm tired."

Her grandmother laughed and the vibrations danced along Bonnie's skin. "You're far too young to be tired now, girl."

"But I am, Grams!" She stood up from the couch. "I've been tired ever since I locked Elena, Damon and Stefan up in that damn tomb." Her legs had her pacing back and forth. "Jeremy's dead. The Originals have gone back to New Orleans." Suddenly, she threw her hands up in the air. "And I've been cleaning up their messes back in Mystic Falls ever since." Casting a glance over her shoulder, she watched her Grams slowly rising to stand as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. " _I'm tired_ , Grams."

Sheila reached her hands out to grasp Bonnie's shoulders. "Even more of a reason why you shouldn't be here, Child. There is still so much for you to do. So much for you to learn."

She pulled her against her, letting her head rest along her chest and Bonnie finally let loose a sob she'd been holding back. It was like she was a teenager all over again.

"But, in the meantime, you've earned a break."

Bonnie's arms circled her grandmother and she openly wept as the older witch stroked her hair.

The air changed.

She had barely noticed it at first. It had felt like a whisper along the nape of her neck. Bonnie almost thought it was just a trick of the mind. But the longer her grandmother continued to stroke her hair, the more prominent the whisper became. It caused goosebumps to pepper across her skin.

Taking a step back, Bonnie was about to ask if her grandmother was aware of the change in the air. But when she lifted her head up, she was alone. Completely. Standing in a void of black emptiness. Bonnie's heart lurched in her throat as she quickly looked around, her legs already eating up the vastness that surrounded her.

There was nothing.

 _Ting_.

The sound of a single bell chime struck through the air, causing Bonnie to scream and cover her ears. It was loud as thunder and her entire body shivered from the rough vibrations running up the length of her - rattling her bones. Tears slid down her face as the ringing pounded through her brain and struck her lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

Darkness closed in all around her, swallowing her whole until there was nothing left. Not even the echoes of her screams.

* * *

Her shrieking gasp was the first thing Bonnie heard. It felt like a literal mountain had been lifted off her chest. Fingers clawed the air and her chest simultaneously. She had attempted to open her eyes, but the light from the sun quickly forced them shut. Her shrieks quickly spiraled into a horrible coughing fit that cut through her chest like a knife.

Forcing herself to roll over, her nose was swiftly buried in blades of freshly cut grass. It caused the pain in her chest to escalate - features screwing up in agony as fingers dug into the dirt. Her boots scraped across a hard surface and it felt like something hot was searing into her flesh.

And then, just as suddenly as it came, the pain vanished. The weight on Bonnie's chest disappeared and she could suddenly breathe again. Blinking wildly, she quickly scrambled to her feet. There were streaks of green left behind from grass stains, but she barely took notice of it. Her soiled palms further ruined her jeans as she stood and she could only imagine what her hair looked like.

The world was vibrant in color but the sun beat down on her heavily, making the weighted peacoat she was wearing feel uncomfortable. Her arms shrugged out of it and she slung it over one arm while attempting to fix her errant hair. Before she knew it, Bonnie's legs were walking down the hauntingly empty streets. It was like she already knew where she was, because she did.

As she walked, her body did semi-circles in every direction. Green eyes drank in the familiar landscape but something seemed...off.

"Grams," she mumbled, her legs forcing her to a halt in front of a house. A house she knew too well. Her grandmother's house. "...what did you do?"

* * *

She'd felt like she was being watched all day.

The feeling crept up her back two days after she'd arrived in what she had affectionately dubbed as "Apocalypse Falls". Because there was no other way to describe it. The town Bonnie had grown up in was a ghost town. There were no other people but it was like time had frozen in that place. The town was too quiet. The _world_ felt too quiet.

It wasn't until the fifth day that she'd noticed the Eclipse. She wondered why the world kept getting dark at a certain period of time every single day. Honestly, it had been an afterthought for her. After all, she was still trying to wrap her head around being in that place - seemingly the only living soul there.

Well, except for that creepy stalker vibe she kept getting.

Bonnie went shopping at the end of the week to resupply and picked up her preferred brands of bathroom essentials. She left money on the counter. It was more of a comfort thing for her than anything else in that retro world reality she was currently in.

The stalker feeling remained present the following week but Bonnie didn't seem to mind. Maybe it was in her own head. If so, she took comfort in it. It helped her feel less lonely and allowed her to forget her fear that always threatened to take hold of her at night.

Was this the break that her Grams had been talking about?

It wasn't so bad - the solitude. The quiet helped her think and process - reflecting on all the things that had happened up till that very moment. It certainly wasn't _the worst_ holiday retreat ever.

The fear returned at full force when she went shopping the next week. She froze after taking three steps into the store.

The money on the counter was gone.

* * *

 _ **AN:** I cannot believe I wrote this in 3 weeks! This is ridiculous! Thank you everyone in Bonkamily for all of your support and love. Thank you Tomi for beta-reading through this shit. Now that I got this out of my system, I can get back onto The Gamble. I know you guys are ready. But in the meantime, please enjoy this. It's my gift to you, Bonkamily. I love you._


	2. Chapter 2

Taking the money from the counter had been such an impulsive decision. After all, he had seen her but she hadn't seen him. It was easy for him to locate her since the bubble of magic burst from her location when she'd first arrived. He'd driven like a bat out of hell to Mystic Falls - a place he hadn't traversed in several months.

He always found himself back in that sleepy little town.

When Kai first saw her, he thought she wasn't real. Just a figment of his imagination. After all, he'd been living in solitary confinement for damn near twenty years. It shouldn't have been a surprise for him to start hallucinating. Granted, he was late in the game, but it was still a possibility.

But unlike any illusion he had ever come across, this woman never interacted with him. She never turned her gaze in his direction and there was never any ill intent. She did not torment or taunt him. She did not entice him on a level that gave him pause. At least not negatively.

Her lips were full and sweet and her complexion a soft mocha that made his heart thud in his ribs. Chestnut hair was pulled back away from her face and the bits that fell free often danced with her subtle movements. There was a familiarity in her eyes, malachite and soulful that resonated with him in a way that it probably shouldn't have.

Kai wished he could hear her speak. He wanted to hear her voice. No. He _needed_ to hear it.

Was she like him? A prisoner? Was she a witch? Had the Gemini felt the need to punish her as well? He found it hard to believe she was even capable of committing any crime. Not with the way that she tended to the flowers in the gardens of various homes; with how she stood in the middle of an open field and soaked up the sunlight on her skin.

She was so beautiful that it hurt to even look at her.

Kai left Mystic Falls for a day. Maybe he really _was_ hallucinating. He needed a day to get himself together and pull his thoughts out of the hellish pit he'd made for himself. After a week of following this enigma - this _farce -_ he would come back and there would be no one. He would be alone.

Like always.

When he returned, his legs carried him back to the house that she had taken up residency: the home of Sheila Bennett. Sheila was the one responsible for helping create the prison he was currently in, but she was also the one witch who had believed in him. She believed he was capable of so much more than what his own coven had laid out for him. Believed he was more than the abomination that his father branded him to be.

There were times when he missed her. Missed the simpler days when she would bring her daughter, Abby, to the Parker family home in Portland. Abby truly believed she would become a superstar and often spoke of how she hated the responsibilities of being a Bennett witch. She and Kai frequently fought because she at least had her own magic, unlike him.

What he wouldn't give to have his own magic. To have his revenge.

"Who are you?"

A voice. Not his voice. A different one. It startled Kai and he found himself snapping out of his daze long enough to refocus his vision.

There, in his line of sight, stood the supposed figment of his imagination. She was dressed in a pair of high rise denim shorts, a black crop top with a black and white checkered button up covering the rest of her. But he got a clean view of her beautiful bare stomach - the muscles flexing at feeling his gaze rove over her. The heels of her combat boots shifted across the wooden porch as she folded her arms across her chest in waiting.

Kai's lips parted but he couldn't find the proper words. After all, her voice had taken him by surprise. All this time, he'd believed she wasn't real.

She canted her head to the side slightly - still waiting for his answer. He took a step back when he saw her moving from the porch. Kai couldn't bring himself to run, however, and felt nature rooting his Converse-clad feet to the ground.

The girl circled him, inspecting him. He felt like a freak on display but he still couldn't voice his displeasure. He could smell the hint of her perfume. Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds.

She finally stopped, standing directly in front of him. Her eyes seemed to pop even more in the mid-morning sunlight. Her perfectly arched brows raised and there was a soft glow of bronzer on her cheeks - further accentuating her heart-shaped face. Full lips parted and she slowly reached a hand out toward him. Kai hadn't realized that he'd been holding his breath.

"...are you real?"

Impulse took over reason. His hand zipped out and grasped her wrist and she gasped. It took on a red glow and Kai realized it too late. A sharp intake of breath issued from her and Kai did the same. But while hers was from pain, his was from absolute euphoria and it swept through him like a miniature hurricane.

Magic. It was magic! She was a witch!

Pleasure rippled from him but she quickly yanked her hand free. Taking a step back from him, Kai was immediately tossed up in regret. _Well, so much for first impressions._

He'd never been very good at them. Maybe she wouldn't hold it against him?

She glared at him - green eyes dancing between outrage and confusion. Did she look even prettier when she was angry?

"What the hell did you just do?!"

Kai didn't stop his smile from forming. Yes. She most _definitely_ looked prettier when she was pissed.

Holding his hands up in both apology and to showcase he wasn't intent on hostility, he took a breath. "Sorry, I got a little carried away there." He lowered his hands a measure, keeping one hand up while extending the other one slowly toward her. "I'm Kai. And you are?"

The witch eyed his hand cautiously. He couldn't blame her. Reaching out with a finger, she poked at his palm and then quickly pulled it away in case he repeated his earlier actions. Kai felt his smile widen as he watched her do this three more times before finally slipping her hand fully into his.

There wasn't a hint of friendliness on her face as she looked at him. In fact, there was a hint of a threat in the way that she gripped his hand. But Kai merely tilted his head to the side in waiting.

"Bonnie."

His grip increased just a bit before he shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you, Bonnie." He held her hand a little while longer, relishing in the fact that he knew she was, in fact, real, before releasing her. "So, I guess we both have a little explaining to do, yeah?"

* * *

"You're a...siphon?"

"Mmhm."

"So, you pull magic from people?"

"Not just people, but magical objects too."

"I see."

Bonnie studied Kai as they sat Indian style across from each other on the grass in her Grams' front yard. They had spent the last half hour talking - mostly prodding at each other to figure things out. He was gauging her just as much as she was gauging him. Neither of them, however, broached the subject of why they were both residing in Apocalypse Falls.

She pursed her lips together, studying him a bit more. He looked to be about her age. Innocent looking features but his slate-blue eyes belied something completely different. But she didn't sense any ill-intent from him. He seemed genuinely perplexed and curious with her presence there.

"You siphoned from me."

His brows furrowed. "I honestly didn't mean to. I thought you weren't real."

Nodding, she fiddled with the laces on her boots. "I didn't think you were real either." Bonnie gave him an accusatory look. "...you were the one watching me all this time, weren't you?"

Kai laughed, shaking his head as he held his hands up in defeat. "Guilty as charged." He leaned forward, bracing his palms on his knees. "But I thought you were some dream. I thought I'd finally gone crazy in this place."

She tried to stop the smile from tugging at her own lips and she slapped her knees to keep it from happening altogether. "What _is_ this place anyway?" Craning her neck, she looked around curiously before letting her gaze fall back on Kai. "I feel like I've been thrown back in time and the day keeps resetting. Do you know why?"

He seemed to consider this and she watched him toss a few thoughts around. Was he trying to dumb it down for her? She almost felt offended. Almost.

"We're in an alternate dimension."

"Like what? Like the Other Side?"

He shook his head and grinned. "Nope. We'd have to be dead for it to be the Other Side. And we wouldn't be the only ones here." Kai held up his hands. "And as I've already demonstrated, you can feel pain so you're not dreaming."

Bonnie folded her arms across her chest in thought. Her Grams had sent her here for a reason. But for what? A break? That felt like only half of it. And she wasn't dead either?

There had to be another reason.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She looked back at him, his expression curious and waiting. They weren't going to get very many answers if they didn't at least come to some kind of mutual understanding. Honesty. They needed to be honest with each other. They needed to _trust_ one another in order to really figure out what in the hell was going on.

"You've been here longer than I have, haven't you?"

May as well just come out with it.

Kai's smile fell just a margin and he averted his gaze. So she'd touched on something. But how bad was this little bit of truth he was hiding?

She sighed. "Look, it's clear that we're both alive and there has to be a way out of this place, right?" His eyes lifted to meet hers and Bonnie did her best to put on a less suspicious expression. "So why don't we just lay out everything we both know and do that? Get the hell out of here."

Bonnie thrusted her hand forward. If she set the ground rules, then maybe this guy would follow. If not, they could go their separate ways and call it a day. The world was a big place when it was only two people existing in it.

Kai grasped her hand and gave it a firm shake. "Deal."

* * *

Trust.

She was attempting to establish trust. Something that Kai didn't really take too much stock in since his twin betrayed him. Kai had no reason to trust Bonnie anymore than she had a reason to trust him.

Yet she was trying to put the groundwork down for it anyway.

Little by little, day by day, Kai and Bonnie revealed little things about each other. The suggestion had been to just put it all out there, but Kai knew the true meaning behind that statement. He was fine with it. He'd been there for eighteen years. What were a few more weeks?

The weeks, however, dissolved into months. But, again, Kai didn't mind. It was the first time he was actually _happy_ to be around someone else. He had been in isolation in the real world thanks to his family and, like this world, he was forced into isolation once again. Having another human being there with him to talk to - to hear another person's voice other than his own?

It was...nice.

But the niceness of it almost sickened Kai. Nice wasn't what he was all about. There was the ever-suspicious part of him that wondered just when Bonnie was going to betray him. Was she leading him into some kind of false sense of security? When did the lies and truths start getting confused for the other?

When was he going to start feeling disappointed? When was that proverbial shoe going to drop? Every time he felt his guard dropping around Bonnie, he grew just a bit more agitated with himself.

Kai was in the kitchen making waffles when a loud _thud_ brought him out of his reverie. Bonnie plopped onto a stool, her head peeking over a pile of books. Plating a waffle and adding some sliced strawberries, he offered the plate to her and she took it along with the glass of orange juice.

"Research?"

She bit into a piece of waffle and nodded, taking a book off the stack and flipping it open. "Along with the Ascendant, you said we need Bennett blood, right?" He nodded, taking up a seat next to her as he peered at the pages. "Well, I was thinking that if Bennett blood is required, then a Bennett would have written down the spell somewhere."

Kai had guessed as much. But he'd poured through every grimoire that he could get his hands on. Nothing was helpful and some spell books were crafted to hide certain things from other prying eyes. He'd spent years trying decipher what he could but there was just no way around it. He didn't have any magic and even if he did, if he wasn't a direct descendant then there wouldn't be anything to see anyway.

If Bonnie was as well-versed a witch as he thought she was, then she would know that too. He already knew where the Ascendant was. That was one of three pieces needed to escape that place. The spell and blood? Well, that was something he didn't have easy access to.

"It won't do any good if you can't read the spell," he said, sipping from his glass. "And there is still the issue of Bennett blood."

Kai couldn't have missed that triumphant smirk on Bonnie's face even if he wanted to.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm a Bennett witch, huh?"

His mouth fell open in mid-chew and she laughed, shaking her head as she bit into another forkful of waffle.

"You're a Bennett?" She nodded, her eyes drifting back to the pages of the grimoire. "Why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged. "You never asked." Bonnie casted a sidelong glance at him. "It's not like we were throwing around last names when we first met."

True. He couldn't argue with that. It made sense now why he was so drawn to her. But Kai had also been curious how Bonnie seemed to know her way around Sheila Bennett's house as well as she did. Which brought about another question gnawing at the back of his brain.

"...do you know Sheila Bennett?"

Bonnie's hand paused, the strawberry just barely touching her lips. She blinked and met Kai's gaze, noting the curiosity glinting in her green depths. He could almost _see_ the desperation on his face reflecting from her eyes.

"She's my grandmother."

Kai dropped his fork.

* * *

 _ **AN:** And it just keeps coming guys. I'm not going waste too much time down here in the notes. Just know that I love you all. Review and favorite and all that good stuff!_


	3. Chapter 3

To say things had gotten weird between Kai and her would have been an understatement. But they didn't get weird in that awkward kind of way. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Whatever wall was built up between them seemed practically non-existent. Ever since Kai found out that Sheila was her grandmother, he seemed less reserved and almost...jovial? Was that even the right word?

Kai was always talkative, but he seemed to broach conversation topics surrounding her grandmother a lot more. Little tid-bits and oddities that only a person who _truly_ knew her Grams would know.

Just how long had Kai been here?

On nights when Kai wasn't helping her with magic and figuring out how to get the hell out of Apocalypse Falls, Bonnie stayed up late staring at the ceiling - mulling over thoughts she probably didn't have any business thinking. But there were things that weren't being spoken and she knew that most of it was from Kai's end.

What wasn't he telling her?

No. She needed answers. If they were going to get out of that place together, then they needed to fully trust one another.

 _No more secrets._

Throwing back the covers, she stalked over to her bedroom door. Bonnie had every intention of getting answers from Kai. Tonight.

However, when she flung open the door, Kai was standing on the other side. Bonnie screamed, jumping back as she clutched the front of her shirt. Kai mirrored her movements, apparently just as surprised as she had been.

"Kai! What the hell?!"

"That's my line, Bonster!" He cleared his throat loudly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I figured you were sleeping…"

She eyed him suspiciously. "So what? You were planning on sneaking into my room?"

Kai leaned forward, causing her to take another step back. "Why? Is that what you were wanting?"

"Yeah right," she scoffed, flattening her palms along the sides of her legs. "What do you want?"

"Where you off to in such a rush?" He leaned against the doorway, blocking any chance for escape. Not that she was planning to, but he didn't need to know that. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No." In fact, she hadn't had a nightmare in weeks. "I wanted to talk."

"Same."

She blinked up at him, her vision finally adjusting to the darkness. "About?"

He grinned. "You first."

Sighing, Bonnie brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "There's something you're not telling me and I need you to tell me the truth, okay? No bullshit." He didn't say anything so she continued. "Why are you here, Kai? What happened?" She poked his chest. "And _please_ don't lie to me. I've been around you long enough that I can tell when you're lying."

Bonnie watched him bite his lower lip, as if he were thinking about what he should say. She hoped he wouldn't feed her a lie. If it was one thing she'd come to learn about him was that she could almost _always_ tell when he was lying. Even little innocent ones. Kai had this bad habit of biting his upper lip or scratching the side of his nose.

Yeah, he wasn't the only one who was capable of having stalker tendencies.

After what felt like hours, Kai finally looked at her. He was going to be on the level with her. Something she needed.

"I was branded a criminal by my coven." Bonnie blinked but her expression didn't change. She had a feeling but had kept her thoughts to herself. Giving him a nod, she urged him to continue. "I killed people."

She could feel his eyes boring into her, as if he were waiting on some kind of reaction. There was none. She'd been around death enough and witnessed her friends kill multitudes of people. Hell, even _she_ had killed others to protect the people of Mystic Falls. Kai calling himself a killer honestly didn't surprise her. If it was one thing Bonnie had learned over time was to never judge books by their covers.

But everyone needed to have a reason. Otherwise it was just senseless violence.

"The Gemini are a real piece of work, Bonnie. They like pitting family against each other all in the name of power. My father, the current Gemini leader, was no different. _Is_ no different. My twin and I were supposed to be the next in line to become coven leader. But there's a catch." Kai took a breath, as if he were fighting with something. "...we have to merge. Whoever wins becomes the next head of the Gemini, as well as being linked with all of their magic. If the coven leader dies, the Gemini die as a collective."

Linking spells and dark rituals. Again, this wasn't unfamiliar territory for Bonnie. She had wielded Expression, a dark and forbidden magic that set most witches' teeth on edge. The absolute power that came with Expression was intoxicating. Bonnie had been capable of dangerous levels of magic and then some. If she had been a crueler witch, she would have wished for nothing more than the world to be destroyed - pressed under the strength of her thumb.

There were times when she flirted with that madness in order to succeed in her objectives. But she had refrained. Bonnie knew that dancing with Expression meant upsetting the very balance of nature and all the magic pumping through it.

The Gemini, however, didn't seem to believe in such ideas of balance.

A flash of anger sparked over Kai's eyes, causing Bonnie to raise her brows slightly. He ground his teeth, hands curling into fists. "I was cast aside like trash. Called an abomination and because of something that was beyond my control. Because of _this_!"

He grabbed Bonnie's wrists, the red glow from his palms illuminating their faces. She groaned in pain, biting the inside of her cheek and tasting her own blood on the back of her tongue. Kai hadn't siphoned from her since they'd first met. Not once.

Sucking in air through her teeth, Bonnie didn't fight back. The magic slipped from her veins, soaking into Kai's skin and she tried to think through the pain. He had been holding this back for so long. How long? Well, she couldn't be sure. But if she had any idea of how this dimension worked, it was a long time.

"I had the coven's ideals shoved down my throat my entire life. But instead of giving me a chance, they isolated me from everyone. For what? Because I didn't have any magic? How is that _my_ fucking fault?! I was _born_ this way! They are to blame for all of it!" The rage reflected in Kai's eyes didn't seem human anymore. He looked like a wild animal.

And yet, Bonnie couldn't bring herself to feel any fear.

His nails dug deeper into her skin and it was like a searing hot flame encasing her wrists. She twisted her arms in his grip, her own fingers clasping over his wrists.

"I was supposed to win! I was _going_ to win! My twin never cared about magic. She hated the life we grew up in. She just accepted it all because that's what she thought was expected of her. I had a family I cared about once. But when you're told that coven comes before family, what did they expect? What did that old bastard think was going to happen when I found out the truth about the second set of twins in my family?! Our _replacements_? Like hell!"

The pain continued to escalate and Bonnie felt her legs starting to shake. The truth was overwhelming her but she took it all. Kai had been treated like nothing less than garbage. Brought into the world and treated cruelty as a result. Something he had no choice in. He hadn't asked to be born that way; to be different. And then to be mistreated and abused as a result?

"I snapped, Bonnie. I snapped and I killed my siblings. I killed them all! Those brats got away, but I killed everyone else! Did they think they could get away with treating me like trash, like the family monster, when they groomed me to be just that: a fucking monster?!"

Her brows knit tightly, green eyes searching inside the madness that was overtaking Kai. She was losing feeling in her legs but she held on despite it all. Grasping at every strand of willpower she had, Bonnie stayed on her feet.

"K-Kai…"

Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. How long had he been alone, drowning in these thoughts? How long?

"And so they locked me up! My sister betrayed me, shirked her duty, and my father put me in this alternate dimensional hell where I've been ever since! Alone!"

The world was spinning. She wasn't going to be able to hold on for much longer. So, with the last bit of strength she had, Bonnie pushed up onto the balls of her feet and slammed her lips into Kai's. The pain disappeared as he let her wrists go, but she still held fast to his. Her kiss was rough and she felt like her body was going to fall apart at any moment.

But when she finally felt the world grow just a little bit darker, Bonnie felt a smile weakly tugging at the corners of her mouth as she continued to press against his own. She felt Kai's breath hitch and didn't feel him exhale at all. But his hands were on her shoulders, keeping her steady. Her lips slid across his cheek as her forehead crashed into the crook of his neck.

The weight of the world had been unfairly thrust upon their shoulders. Yet they were never good enough. They were always being viewed as selfish when they didn't bend to the will of others. It wasn't fair.

"I'm...sorry…"

* * *

It had been two days since she'd kissed him. He had to stay in one of the houses a block down the road so he could get his head on straight. Bonnie had turned his world upside down.

But it wasn't the kiss that had thrown him off kilter. It was her apology. Her "I'm sorry" had him all the way fucked up.

What reason did she have to be sorry? It wasn't her fault that he was in this hell. It wasn't even her grandmother's fault. No doubt his father had twisted her arm somehow.

His hand cradled The Ascendant. The magic that he'd taken from Bonnie was still singing with life beneath his skin - tingling at the fingertips. He could feel the magic of the Gemini's device pulsating with vigor and, selfishly, he wanted to run away from everything. All of it.

Bonnie Bennett was bad for business.

Kai had an objective. Now he had the means to escape. But he couldn't very well leave Bonnie behind just because his insides felt like goo when he looked at her. There was a pain in his chest that he couldn't fathom and because he didn't understand it, it made him angry.

He felt ridiculous, standing out there at The Falls, staring into the waters and contemplating throwing himself off the precipice. Maybe if he smashed his head against the rocks a few times, he'd start feeling like his old self again. Kai Parker: Bloody Smear Extraordinaire.

Lifting a hand up to his face, he snickered into his palm before bursting into a laughing fit that was borderline mania. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

"If I didn't already know how crazy you are, I'd think you were having the time of your life."

Spinning on the heels of his Converse, Kai saw Bonnie coming through the trees. She was wearing a pale yellow sundress cinched at the waist, sandals and her hair was pinned up to the side in a messy ponytail. She wore no other jewelry.

The attire was simple and it was almost an injustice how easy she was at being pretty.

Almost.

"How-" he began, but was cut short from the knowing grin etched on Bonnie's features.

She held up a finger and wagged it back and forth. "Did you forget whose magic is hanging out underneath your skin right now?" Her hand fell to her hip. "So, how long were you planning on hiding from me?"

He huffed, turning away from her even though he didn't want to. "I wasn't hiding." Kai looked over at her as she sidled up beside him. He held out his hand to her and she looked at it curiously. "Did you want it back?"

Bonnie shrugged, her gaze moving back toward the landscape of The Falls. "Nah. You look like you found a long-lost keepsake." She extended her hand, curling her fingers up to the sky. Her hands and fingers were suddenly covered in flames and Kai watched; fascinated. "I have it all back after resting for a bit." Closing her hand into a fist, the flames dissipated.

The sky darkened above them. Kai lifted his head to the canopy of trees and didn't feel the apathy he normally felt when witnessing the Eclipse. Having Bonnie there made things...different. The vastness that was this prison didn't seem so empty. It felt just a little bit whole.

"We missed it." Bonnie smiled and gave a half shrug. "Oh well. Tomorrow's another day."

She moved to leave his side and Kai reached out to take hold of her hand. There was a slight jump in her finger muscles, but other than that, she remained rooted where she was. Bonnie didn't pull back or shrink away out of fear of him siphoning her again. At least that's what he hoped.

"Bon? About the other night…"

"Did you want to hold my hand that badly, Kai?" Humor danced in her eyes and he had to wonder if he was rubbing off on her. Or was it the other way around? "Thanks for being honest with me. I don't think I could have gone back with you if you were still hiding things from me."

He blinked, his confusion evident. "You're not freaked out?"

She sighed and he could swear that a sad look passed across her face for just a moment. "Listen, Kai," Bonnie said, turning to face him, "I know I can come off as a bit self-righteous, but I'm not new to the whole concept of killing."

He watched her move, tugging him with her. They started heading out of the woods. "I can't imagine you killing anyone." Kai casted a sidelong glance at her. "You're a good person, Bonnie. You're brave, loyal, patient…"

 _I wanna be more like you…_

"Yeah, well I needed a vacation from the bullshit that is my life. Being the good witch and all." Her voice held a bitter edge to it as she put air-quotes around 'good witch'. "I died and my Grams sent me here. Basically her way of telling me to pump the brakes."

Bonnie laughed and Kai liked hearing it. He didn't know why. He just did.

Somewhere along the way, they let go of each other's hands and she scampered off toward where Kai had parked the car. Bonnie made her way to the passenger seat and Kai stood atop the small hill as he watched her. She waved back and forth, hurrying him up so they could go. Something about shopping.

There was still that uncomfortable feeling welling up in his chest, but at least this time it didn't seem to bother him. Not as much. Because seeing her smile made him smile too. A smile that he knew probably met his eyes.

* * *

Clothes were packed away slowly and methodically. There wasn't a whole lot that Bonnie wanted to bring back with her. And she still wasn't sure if they would actually be able to get back. Not yet. She had stumbled across a spell hidden away in Emily Bennett's grimoire that mirrored the one in her Grams' book of spells, but it wasn't for certain. She had no way of knowing if it resonated since Bonnie didn't have the Ascendant.

That was where Kai was. He'd left for Portland the day before to retrieve it. Or so he'd explained. He'd said he'd be back by the next day, but she hadn't taken into account that he'd be flying. Or driving? She really didn't remember which option he said he was going with since he'd mentioned both.

She had offered to go with him, but he said he wasn't ready for her to see it. Not yet. There had been the off-handed comment that he had to clean up the place - a tease from her. Kai didn't really get the joke. Not at first.

 _"_ _Even if I clean it, the blood will just come back the next day."_

He'd done it in his home. Or, from what she understood, the house that he barely remembered being in as a child. Not before he was cast out for being a freak of nature.

Sighing, Bonnie zipped up the backpack and fell into one of the chairs. "...I should have gone with him."

The loud shrill of the phone ringing jolted her from her seat. She zipped into the kitchen and answered, almost forgetting that the phones worked in this world. "Hello?"

 _"_ _Hey Bonster! What're you up to?"_ Kai seemed overly happy with himself. Maybe that meant good news?

"I was just packing some things up. Did you find what you need?"

He chuckled, _tsk_ ing her playfully. _"Of course I did! Who do you think I am?"_

"Lame, that's who you are."

 _"_ _Ow! Meanie!"_ Bonnie could practically hear him pouting on the other line. _"Well, I'm finished here. I had a few things I needed to grab as well."_ There was a minute pause, as if he were considering something. _"Did you still want to come see it? The house, I mean?"_

Truthfully? No, she didn't. It was just painful memories for him and she didn't want to watch him relive those moments. It was selfish of her, but her empathy was a damning trait all the same.

"Do you want me to see it?"

 _"_ _Maybe? I don't know."_

So, he wanted her to see it. At least once before they left. Maybe she owed him that?

"Okay."

* * *

Kai wasn't so much nervous as he was anxious. He didn't know how Bonnie was going to react when she saw the remnants of the massacre he'd left behind. She may have seemed okay with it all, but there was a part of him that wondered if she was as understanding as she made herself out to be.

Probably not.

He was used to disappointment. But something told him that Bonnie being on the giving end of it would be...worse? Was that the right word for it? He knew he'd feel something but he wasn't sure just what that something was.

He'd flown back to Virginia and scooped up Bonnie. They landed in Portland and he did his damnedest to avoid taking her to his childhood home right away. Instead, he suggested shopping and maybe picking out a few nice things from a boutique. Kai wanted to see but she insisted on it being a surprise. He obliged her.

They drove up the dirt road leading to the Parker family home. A house he had often torched to cinders when he'd first arrived in that prison world. There had been something cathartic about it the first dozen times he'd seen it go up in orange and yellow flames - black smoke billowing off from the rooftop.

Kai reached the steps leading up the porch first. When he turned around, he saw Bonnie looking around the yard curiously. The Eclipse had already come and gone and the sun was starting to sink below the canopy of trees that encapsulated the house. She was dressed the grungiest he'd ever seen her: a red fishnet long sleeve shirt over a black tankini, denim skirt and combat boots. Her hair was pulled into a loose side ponytail that draped over her shoulders and she wore no accessories and no makeup.

She was still the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.

"Bon?"

Bonnie finally looked at him, as if she'd been pulled out from a daze. Without having to say anything else, she approached the house and he held the door open for her. He waited for disappointment or judgment. He expected it.

But as she crossed the threshold and was immediately face to face with the blood, it was almost like she hadn't seen it at all. Or she had and just wasn't saying anything. Kai wanted to appear like he was proud - like it didn't faze him at all for her to see this carnage - the physical manifestation of his rage. There was slight trepidation and he could swear that the entire world had grown exceptionally quiet in that moment.

His brows furrowed. _Why isn't she saying anything?_

Yet Bonnie passed by each marker of his destruction - blood spatters and the discarded bat decorated in flecks of crimson. He'd beaten Joey to death with it. Her eyes wandered up the ceiling and there was the rope where he'd hung one of his sisters from - Laura. She was the youngest but older than Olivia. He could still see her thin, pre-teen body swinging from the railing.

She moved upstairs, the trail of blood her guide and Kai silently followed along. He was still waiting on her to say something, but she kept her lips sealed as she continued to survey the damage. There was a busted wardrobe and more blood on the floor.

He saw her pause by a window, the one that gave a clear view of the backyard. There was a pool back there - the place where he'd drowned his younger brother, Bryan. A faint tint of pink circulated in the center of the pool from the blood that dripped off the edge of the concrete. It was where he'd smashed Bryan's head in when he shoved him onto the ground and then swiftly dumped him into the pool so he could finish him off by drowning him.

Kai had wanted her to see it. Now he was thinking that wasn't such a good idea after all. What was he trying to achieve again? He couldn't remember anymore. All he could recall at that moment was Josette's horrifying shrieks when she'd happened upon the corpses of their siblings.

And then he'd gutted her with that hunting knife. Just like Amelia.

"Is it enough?"

Bonnie's words were like a slap in the face - sobering him up instantly. He craned his neck to look at her and was shocked to see that she was still peering outside the window. "What?"

"I asked if it's enough?" she said, her voice soft. She then turned to look at him. "Or are you going to want more blood when you get out of here?"

He shook his head. "It's not about whether I want it or not. Revenge aside, Bonnie, I have to merge with my sister in order to survive. It's always about survival. It always _has_ been."

She seemed to be considering his words, folding her arms across her chest as she looked back out the window. "I don't blame you, Kai." Bonnie turned back to him and she must have seen the surprise on his face because now she was smirking. "You didn't lie when you told me what happened to you. I've also read a bit about the Gemini in my Grams' book. If it's as screwed up and unfair as you say it is, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone you went postal."

What in the hell was happening? Was someone finally on his side for once? Was that person Bonnie Bennett?

"Now then," she said, bringing him back out of his stupor, "if you're done taking me on this stroll through memory lane, can we start picking a day when we're getting the hell out of here?"

She held her hand out to him. Kai looked at it curiously before reaching out slowly to take her hand in his. There was a firm shake and he didn't feel that lingering urge to siphon. Maybe it was because he hadn't used a single drop of Bonnie's magic since he'd taken it from her.

"Yeah. Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

May 10th, 1994.

She'd lived through this day for months now. Some of those days had been alone and the remainder had been with Kai. He was a bit intolerable and could sometimes crowd into her space, but Bonnie didn't truly find him distasteful. If anything, the last few weeks she'd spent in Apocalypse Falls had been fun and eye-opening for her.

But yeah, she was kinda over it now.

Kai had spent most of the morning digging the hole she was now staring into. According to him, this place was the point in which the Eclipse would be at its highest and where the magic would be its strongest. Bonnie told him to take a nap back where they'd set up camp, but he was too excited. Now he was passed out on a nearby fallen log clutching his backpack like a lost child.

Bonnie wondered if he was afraid she'd leave him alone. After all, she had all the necessary components to get out of that place without him. He was a criminal, according to his coven, and they had passed judgment stating that he deserved to be incarcerated.

After spending just a few months in this place, she knew why her Grams wanted her to see it as a "vacation" of sorts. But ultimately, Bonnie knew that it was because of Kai that she was brought there at all. Of all the prison worlds in all the world, her Grams sent her to this one?

What were the odds, really?

Lifting up her wrist, she saw the time. She reached out and smacked Kai to rouse him and he jumped so hard he nearly fell off the log. Bonnie grasped his forearms to keep him from toppling over and, instead, lifted him up onto his feet.

"It's almost time to go."

Kai grunted, dropping his bags down into the hole. Bonnie did the same and she kicked the rope that had been tied to a nearby tree down into the cave. She hefted her bag onto her shoulders and Kai did the same, pulling the Ascendant from his pocket and holding it out for her. Bonnie used one of the edges of the device to slice into her hand, wincing slightly as blood wept onto the cavern floor.

Squeezing her hand into a tight fist, she dripped blood onto the gears and single clear crystal embedded in the center. Kai grasped her wrist and she looked up at him. His eyes were a mixture of excitement and something else she couldn't place. Not fear. Concern, maybe? For her? Doubtful. Maybe for them as a collective?

"We're going home," he murmured, as if he hardly believed it.

"Yeah. Home." Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated. The Eclipse was darkening the sky as she took a breath. _"Sangima Mearma, Ascendarum Cavea."_

A cone of light swept down over them, the winds picking up speed and Kai's grip got tighter on her. Bonnie wasn't sure if something was going wrong, but when she opened her eyes she found herself staring straight back at Kai. He was moving in and before she could protest, his lips sealed over her own in a kiss she hadn't been expecting. His arm moved to wrap around her waist, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss - her lips parting to allow him entrance.

The light swallowed them up, the magic transporting them through time and space as they remained entangled in each other's arms.

* * *

"Come with me."

"No."

"Come on, Bonnie. Come with me!"

"I said no."

It was a miniature stand-off and Kai knew that Bonnie wasn't having it. But he had to try. He had to get her to see reason and to come with him. They were back in Mystic Falls, the Mystic Falls of 2012 and while he was beyond elated to be back, he couldn't imagine separating from Bonnie after the last six months they'd spent together.

Call him a whipped puppy. Maybe he just liked her company. Maybe it was something more. But Kai wanted to find out and doing that meant staying close to her.

But she was being so goddamned stubborn about it.

Kai huffed, scuffing the toe of his sneakers against the grass. "Why not?"

She rolled her eyes, as though she'd been expecting this question. "I don't want to."

"Because?"

He knew he was prodding but Kai couldn't see himself leaving unless she gave him a good enough answer. One that made sense.

"Kai."

The way she said his name left him feeling restless. Like this would be the last time they would ever see each other again. And he hated that feeling.

"Bon-"

"I won't stop you from doing what you have to do. It's none of my business." Her brows furrowed as she peered up at him. "You have to survive no matter what, right?"

"Bonnie…"

She adjusted the bookbag strap on her shoulder. "Then go do that. Survive. Just don't bring that shit to my doorstep. I have a feeling that there is a lot of work waiting for me when I get back." Kai watched Bonnie brush past him and saw her stop just as their knuckles brushed against each other. "Good luck, Kai."

And as he watched her heading toward a cluster of trees, soft powder started to fall from above. Bonnie disappeared into the shadows of the forest and Kai barely felt the chill of the air around him. His face lifted to the sky and snowflakes kissed his cheeks and eyelashes. Watching a cloud leave him as he took a breath, he shook his head.

No. This wouldn't be the last time he saw Bonnie Bennett. He would make sure of it.

He would survive. Because he always won.

He would see her again.

* * *

One month had passed since Bonnie had parted ways with Kai.

It would be a lie if she didn't feel _something_. What that something was, she wasn't sure. They'd shared a deep kiss before being transported back to their world. Bonnie could still _feel_ _him_ all over her skin. Was it because he still had her magic before they separated? Probably.

But she couldn't afford the luxury of dwelling on it. Caroline made sure of that when she returned. The blonde vampire saw Bonnie checking the mail and banshee screeched at her. After a tearful reunion, she filled her in on everything that happened during the last six months. The Bennett witch was happy to let her talk, feeling less inclined to divulge her own adventures.

She never brought up Kai. There was never an opportunity or need to.

During her absence, Caroline, Matt and Tyler had been doing their best to battle off any unwelcome visitors from Mystic Falls. But they were missing their resident town witch and Bonnie was more than willing to deliver.

It was Christmas Eve. To celebrate, Caroline insisted on throwing a massive party at the Lockwood manor. Tyler didn't mind and after chasing out the recent riff-raff, everyone was eager to participate. Bonnie had gotten roped into helping decorate the ballroom but she didn't mind. It was something to take her mind off of things.

After finishing up, Bonnie was (thankfully) dismissed by Caroline so that she could rest and prepare for the festivities. She went back to her Grams' home, brewed a cup of tea to relax her muscles and then ran a bath. Bonnie sprinkled a few petals and sprigs of flora from her Grams' garden - hoping the magical properties would help replenish her reserves. Maybe she'd squeeze a nap in.

Just as she was about to step into the bath, the doorbell rang. Weird. She wasn't expecting guests. Wrapping a robe over her, Bonnie hurried down the stairs. She probably should have gotten dressed properly, but she couldn't be bothered.

Opening the door, she was startled to see who was on the other side holding a bouquet of flowers.

Slate blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the twilight and he was dressed in a style that suited the time - better than the 90s grunge gear she was used to him dawning. Silver rings glinted from the porch light and he gave her his trademark finger-waggle wave.

His impish grin was still the same, but there were some noticeable changes too. His jaw was more chiseled, he'd grown taller and had he filled out also? There was even a slight dusting of stubble around his lips and jaw and his hair had grown just a little longer, swept to the side in a modest part.

"Kai?"

"Hey, Bonster."

She must have had a dazed look on her face because he suddenly thrust the flowers at her. Her hands reached for them unconsciously. Bonnie took the time to look at them, admiring the variety and the smell was sweet but subtle.

"Uh, thanks?" She pressed them to her chest, her eyes lifting to meet his. "What are you doing here?"

Kai pouted playfully, tilting his head in a puppy-like fashion. "Really? I haven't seen you in a month and that's all you can say?"

Rolling her eyes, she cradled the flowers in her arm. "What else am I supposed to say?"

"Congratulations? Nice to see you? Wanna come inside?" He laughed, shrugging. "I don't know."

Bonnie shook her head. Same old Kai. "Congratulations for what? Being alive?" She knew he would survive so what was there to congratulate? "I would invite you, but I was about to take a bath. Don't start." She pointed and accusatory finger at him as something mischievous played on his features. "And, well, I guess it's nice to see you again."

He raised a brow. "You guess?"

"Yeah," she said while lifting her chin up slightly, "I gue-mmf!"

She felt Kai's heat pressing into her immediately, his lips falling down roughly on her own as her words were lost to his mouth. Their chests bumped and Bonnie grunted as Kai shoved his way into the house, shutting the door behind him. His boot-clad feet danced around her bare ones and the bouquet fell to the floor.

His hands carded through her hair and Bonnie found herself gripping onto the lapels of his jacket - holding on for dear life so she could maintain her footing. She felt Kai gathering her up in his arms, swinging her body around and pressing her back against the door as little sounds of pleasure murmured between them - their magic simmering against each other's skin.

Kai's hands were all over the place, the warmth of his palms igniting her skin on fire beneath the fabric of the robe as she continued to feel his kisses all over her mouth. They were hot, angry and persistent - as if he had mapped out what he wanted to do but had no way of getting to his destination. But as she slipped her fingers into his hair, opening her mouth to allow him entrance, it seemed that Kai had finally gotten his rhythm.

His hands had taken the initiative to do as they pleased once she'd given her consent - the feel of her robe falling to the ground in tandem with his jacket. Bonnie practically tore the shirt off his body, wanting to feel everything that he was giving. She was spiraling and Kai had been the one to push her off the edge.

Soon the feel of skin against skin met with an eruption of feeling as the cool air touched her back. A shiver snaked down her spine but was only given a moment to do as such. A deep moan burst forth from her mouth that slowly began to transform into a sharp gasp as he pinched her nipple.

They broke their kiss and Bonnie was only able to whisper his name once - a breathy sigh before his mouth captured hers again. Her eyes slowly closed, drinking in his scent as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The flat of her palm slid down between his shoulder blades, her nails gently pressing into his back to dig into his skin. Kai's hands moved over her body, making the heat rise in spite of the chilling bite of his rings on her warm skin.

He lifted her off the ground. The kiss was only deepened through the movement and she tightened her legs around his waist even more as he supported her with his strong arms. Her arms pulled him tighter, bringing him closer if that was even possible. The kisses between them only escalated with hunger. Such an overwhelming form of desire was threatening to take hold of Bonnie that she didn't know what to do with herself.

But Kai had already known what to do, lifting her up and she clung to his form with everything that she had as the temperature climbed to all knew heights.

Bonnie was going to go crazy. She was losing her mind from all the sensations her body was being put through. She wanted to fall against him - to get lost in his eyes as he overtook her with every single bit of raw passion that was contained within them.

"Bonnie."

She heard her name falling from his lips, and as he pulled back, she gently touched the swollen buds as she bit her bottom lip at the corner; her breathing heavy as her chest rose and fell slowly. Kai moved to nuzzle his face into the juncture of her shoulder.

"I survived," he breathed, the air from his mouth hot along her neck. "And there is a whole mess of shit inside of me that I have to deal with. Feelings are hard. I fucking suck at them." Kai pressed his forehead against hers and she could feel the heavy cadence of his heart and it beat like a war drum.

Bonnie listened quietly, waiting for him to finish. He was unsure of where to take this. She didn't know either. He clearly wanted her. They wanted each other. But there was still something holding him back. Even now.

"Give me a chance, Bon." Her eyes widened slightly, her surprised expression reflecting back at her in his own gray-blue hues. "Let me in."

"Kai…"

His grip on her waist tightened, eliciting a soft moan from her and she felt how hard he was beneath his jeans. Whatever she was about to say? Well, it didn't matter much.

"I can't promise you that I'll be the best. That's for you to judge." Bracing her up against the door, he lifted one hand up to clasp her neck. She swallowed against his thumb as he stroked up and down her throat. "But I can promise that you'll always be first."

Kai's words went on and they crashed into her heart like two trains colliding. Her chest tightened up and it felt like she lost her breath. Bonnie cupped his face in her hands, leaning forward to kiss him hard on the lips. She slipped her tongue in between them as she felt the muscle rake slowly against his fangs - a gentle intake of breath filling her lungs as she smelled him. His scent was still the same - even after being apart all this time. Spring rain with a hint of spice.

After taking the time to greedily consume his mouth as he had hers, Bonnie pulled back and moved her gaze from one of his orbs to the other. Her dark hair fell like a silk curtain and covered half her face. She leaned forward, her lips pressing against his ear as she softly breathed against the lobe - her arms snaking over his shoulders to grasp at the baby hairs along the nape of his neck. "Took you long enough, you jerk."

Bonnie kissed his ear, then nipped it while her hands moved across the skin of his bare chest. The heat radiating both from him and her own body was intoxicating. She pulled him into another kiss - the desperate need to feel his body against hers maddening.

There was no going back now. Bonnie was done looking over her shoulder at what was and looking too far ahead at what could be. She would live in the here and now - with no regrets.

Forever.

* * *

"Would you stop?" snapped Jo. Kai ignored her and continued his pacing. "You're making me dizzy!"

" _Don't care~_ " came his sing-song reply. Hands were buried in the pockets of his tux pants, his eyes never leaving the invisible trail he had been circling for the last hour.

Three years came and went; encased in dozens of epic fights and hundreds of legendary makeup sex sessions. Kai Parker had asked Bonnie Bennett to marry him. Her eyes and face glowed so brightly that he believed she was casting a spell on him.

Who was he kidding? He'd been under he spell from the first moment he'd seen her.

She'd said yes.

When the news dropped to both her friends and his family, they took it in a variety of ways. Caroline had been over the moon. Lockwood and Donovan? Well, they were happy but felt like Bonnie could have done better. Better than a witch coven leader? Think again.

His twin, Jo, accused him of knocking her up. The barb was still just as sharp over losing Luke after all this time. But she was relenting. She had no choice.

Olivia wanted no part in the wedding. She said she would attend his funeral, however. Fine by him. He'd promised Bonnie he wouldn't bring his bullshit to her door. He kept that promise.

"I don't know what you're so nervous about," she said, cradling Josie in one arm. "We all told her to run for the hills. Yet there she is, down the hall, getting ready to tie the knot with you."

"Or maybe she's preparing to pull a Julia Roberts on me." He paused, staring blankly at the wall. "Or worse. Kill Bill."

Josie cooed sleepily, bringing Kai out of his stupor. Jo gave him a pointed look. "You need to stop watching so many movies." She shrugged. "There's still time for me to get a funeral dress."

Kai was about to match her sass when a knock at the door stopped him. They didn't wait for permission and in popped Caroline, looking flushed and so pleased with herself, you'd think _she_ was the one getting hitched. She moved to sit next to Jo, immediately stroking baby Josie's cheek with affection. There was a part of Kai that was semi-disgusted with a vampire touching his niece, but he actually _liked_ Caroline so she had that going for her at least.

"How is she?" he asked, lifting a hand to stroke through his hair.

Caroline continued fussing with the baby until Jo handed her over completely. "She's fine. Just having a talk with her grandmother."

"Wait, what?" Kai paused from turning back toward the mirror. "She's talking to Sheila? Like, right now?"

The blonde nodded. He moved toward the door, but before he could put his hand on the knob, Caroline had blurred in front of it. He cut his eyes to her and she glared at him, still cradling Josie in her left arm as she gripped his wrist.

"You can't see her. It's bad luck." Her blue eyes sparked with warning but there was a wide smile on her face. "Unless you want to curse this marriage before it's even gotten a chance to start."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I need to speak to her." The witch didn't believe in superstitions like that.

Kai wanted to talk to Sheila. He wanted to apologize for being a little shit those last few years before he'd been banished. He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to reassure the old woman that he would take care of her granddaughter.

And he wanted to thank her for sending Bonnie to him.

That had to be the only reason he could think of for Sheila to send Bonnie to his prison world. It was the only logical explanation. The only thing that made sense.

"Bonnie is a witch, Kai. Just like you." Jo's voice pulled him outside of his own head. He glanced over his shoulder and saw she was standing up now, an annoyed but understanding expression on her face. "You'll get to talk to her one day. Just let her have this, would you?"

But he didn't want to. Kai wanted to be selfish and throw a tantrum like a child. He hadn't seen Sheila in ages and there were so many things he wanted to know. Things that he felt he _deserved_ to know.

Yet he couldn't argue with his twin either. She was right. There would be time for reunions later. When he and Bonnie were fully settled into their lives together.

Fingers sliding from the doorknob, Kai sighed and stuffed his hands back into his pants pockets. Caroline's stern look melted away into her previous expression of happiness. She patted him a few times on the shoulder in reassurance. "Congratulations, Kai. I really hope you'll be able to make Bonnie happy. She's been through so much."

He gave her a lopsided grin and a half shrug. He had every intention to do just that. Every intention in the world.


	5. Chapter 5

Bonnie sighed softly, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes. Her dress was simple, clean and elegant - off-white with sleeves that hugged her arms all the way down the to the wrists. The back was low cut and the front hugged her neck just below her Adam's apple. It fell across her body in soft waves and brought out the dark chestnut color of her hair and blood red of her lips even more than she had actually anticipated. A crown of jasmines adorned her head.

As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't help the small smile that touched her lips.

This…was actually happening.

"You know, I didn't think it was possible for you to look any more beautiful."

Bonnie looked over her shoulder, smiling softly as her Grams approached her. She stood up, reaching out her hands to grasp the older witch's as she gave her the once over. It was taking everything she had not to cry.

Sheila grinned easily to her, reaching out a hand to brush some of her locks behind her ear. "No tears, my dear. Not today. You've cried enough, don't you think?"

There was a look in her eyes that had caught Bonnie off guard. Her Grams was a woman who rarely showcased her emotions. She'd been an austere but compassionate woman. But she'd never seen her Grams cry.

Not until today, that is.

"Grams?" Bonnie had been wanting to ask her something, but she didn't know if she wanted to know the answer. But she wanted to ask anyway. "You sent me to that place for a reason, didn't you? You did it, knowing I'd meet Kai…"

Reaching out, Sheila touched her cheek with her palm and stroked the skin under her eye with the pad of her thumb. "Does it matter?"

Bonnie nodded.

"On a day like today, does it really matter?"

Again, she nodded.

Chuckling to herself, she watched her Grams sigh as she shook her head. "Then let me be selfish this one time? No one in the world deserves you more. That broken boy? Everyone had given up on him, but I didn't. Not even in death. I always believed there would be hope for that child. It just needed time to grow - it needed time for it to be you."

Bonnie's eyes widened slightly. Was that what she'd done? Getting herself involved with the creation of the Prison World? Had her Grams seen this coming all along? "Grams…"

"He will love you until the end of your days. He will love you even after. And when you both are reborn, he will love you in your next lives."

Bonnie squeezed her hands in hers, looking up at the older witch as she tried to gather her nerves. "Are you sure about that?" Averting her gaze, she looked down at her feet. "Are you sure he'll keep loving me, beyond time itself?"

She felt her grandmother's fingers under her chin, lifting her face up to look at her. Her Grams' expression was a mixture of reassurance and fondness. "Trust me, my girl. If it's not you, it's no one else."

Sheila kissed Bonnie's cheek and then motioned for her to leave the room she was given to prepare for everything. Bonnie smiled, pushing back the tears as she took a deep breath; the lovely bouquet of lilies clutched in her hands.

It was time. Bonnie knew that this was the beginning of the rest of their lives. The venue was perfect, the greens and golds of Mystic Falls in Autumn a beautiful backdrop to their world. And it was outdoors, so no one would make any snide jokes about burning to ashes for entering something as sacred as holy ground.

None of that mattered though. None of it ever did. Only each other.

That was all that ever mattered. From start to finish.

* * *

There were more people in attendance than he'd thought there would be. Most were there for Bonnie, he knew, some for them both. Kai was fine with that; his wife - _how amazing was it that he could say that, now?_ \- was a beautiful woman, and popular. She'd always seemed to be and even now he could see it.

Not that he minded. She was his and he was hers in so many ways, and the rings on their fingers were only a physical way to show it. _Only You_ by The Platters played - their first dance as husband and wife.

He did make his way with her through the crowd, stopping here and there to chat. The obligatory niceties that came with these sorts of social functions. Kai had always loved weddings. The celebration, the booze, and the overall merriment that accompanied the whole affair. The energy was contagious and he remembered being a little giddy over his twin's wedding.

Kai spied Bonnie talking with others, ever the blushing bride and glowing more fiercely than he'd ever seen her. He loved her. And she loved him.

He knew what she wanted; he could see it in her eyes just as clearly as he could read it in her mind. Kai was an exhibitionist and despite Bonnie's protests during their earlier months of dating, even she couldn't stop him from getting what he wanted. Because he wanted what he wanted and he wanted it then and there. She had adjusted to his need to give her open affection, to which he was grateful.

Bonnie must have sensed him staring at her because their eyes met and that ever-frequent silent conversation passed between the two of them. He didn't miss that dark color change in her green eyes. Kai was sure that his had done the same.

They would stay at the reception for a little while longer. Mingle. Thank people for attending. And then… then they could disappear.

He was looking forward to spending time alone - finally - with _his wife_.

The two of them gave a knowing smile with Kai gesturing toward the dark alcove near the back where no one could see. It was an open bar and food for miles. Everyone had their own methods of getting home. They could fend for themselves, dammit.

As soon as their hands touched, he whispered a spell and they were vacant from the world. It was only them. No one else. Kai pulled her in close and took her lips in a kiss, his tongue licking into her mouth, tasting her and the drinks she'd had. His hands slowly caressed her waist down to her thighs. Her dress was beautiful and flowy and he pulled the skirts up, his fingers grazing her thighs and leaving light scratches.

"Tell me what you want, Bon," he said, his voice whispering against her skin. "Show me." The words were a command, his tone full of the heat, the passion he had for her and her alone. " _Beg me_." Every word was accentuated by his hands moving against her, his lips on her skin, his magic brushing against hers and allowing her to drink of the thirst he had for none but her.

Kai could feel Bonnie's heartbeat elevate slightly as her arms rose to rest on his shoulders, his own hands roving her body. He had memorized every contour of her, yet his hands were familiarizing themselves with it all over again. Kai felt her leg lifting so he could have better access to the folds of her dress and run more of his hands along her bare skin.

So compliant. So _his._ It was worth the years it had taken to get to this point.

Bonnie leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck as her lips brushed against his ear. Taking the flesh between her teeth, she bit and suckled for a moment before breathing a warm sigh against the wetness she'd left behind. A soft shiver slithered down his back. "Seduce me," she whispered hungrily. "Make me weak for you... I want to fall apart in your arms again."

He smirked just before overtaking her mouth in succulent kisses. His lips slowly traveled down from her mouth and trailed down along her jaw before eventually meeting her neck, in which he sucked and kissed in between groping her waist and hips. With a gentle groaning sound, Kai slowly pulled his mouth from her skin and then gazed up into her eyes - lifting a strand of dark hair from her face.

They had made love countless times since their reunion and he could lose himself in her embrace countless more times. It still wouldn't have been enough to satisfy him; to satisfy _her_. Time, it was something that only existed when the memories of the past came. Kai knew that Bonnie wanted to be desired all over again - like the very first time. She wanted to relive the years they had in every moment they could spare until they destroyed one another in the wake of their emotions.

He knew she wanted that because Kai wanted it too.

"As you wish," he said, his voice low.

He took her lips with his once again, drinking deeply of her before he began to focus his ministrations elsewhere. His lips followed the line of her jaw down, working her throat, and he slowly, _slowly_ left a trail of kisses until he hit fabric.

The dress, while beautiful, was entirely in the way. He growled, wanting to just tear it off her, but he didn't want to damage the gown, either.

So instead, he moved down until he was kneeling in front of her. He pressed kisses to the inside of her thighs, soft, gentle, loving things that turned into sharp nips, until the smell of her arousal was too much for him. While he thoroughly enjoyed seeing her in the lacy thing that passed for underwear, it was in the way.

Kai removed it with the aid of teeth and hands, not caring that the offending garment was ripped and falling to the floor. He'd buy her more later. He nudged her legs further apart, his hands caressing her legs. With a brief glance up to her face, he pressed a kiss to her clit, his tongue swirling around it.

"Don't make a sound," he whispered along her skin, focusing on her, "not a single whimper."

Another game with no real loser. He tunnel visioned on Bonnie, licking and sucking - one hand stroking her leg while the other moved up, fingers ghosting across her folds. He loved feeling how wet she was; how wet he _made her_.

He slid two fingers into her slowly, enjoying the way she squirmed against him, clearly wanting more. He would give it to her... but not yet. Kai kept up the slow pace, taking his time, savoring the taste and feel of her, daring her to beg for more.

It hadn't been just sex, carnal desire, primal needs for Kai. He knew that. Which was why he reminded her now, with his lips, his fingers, his mind against hers.

She was his, had always been his, and he'd loved no other, wanted no other, needed no other in all the time he'd known her. He gave that to her now, the surety of his love and his need for her in every touch until she was writhing against him, the air filling with the perfume of her. It was intoxicating, and he drank deeply of it, of her, until she fell apart in his hands - what few sounds she made being lost to the din of the reception hall.

When her spasms eased, Kai withdrew from her folds and rose, towering above her, pressing her into the wall as he took her lips in a searing kiss. He tasted her, tasted of her, and he gave an appreciative growl when she responded to his kiss with fervor.

He still had control of the cloaking spell but knew he wouldn't manage to quiet their corner, too. Not for much longer. The challenge of staying silent thrilled him, gave something more to the game. With one hand, he reached down, working his trousers until he had freed his erection, pressing it against her. The shaft twitched with the beat of his heart and he slowly, oh so slowly, pressed into her.

Her legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust into her; he could feel her fingers digging into his coat, and he moved to a beat only they could hear, agonizingly slow and yet so gentle a lesser being might have cried from the sense of it. Kai's lips captured any sounds she might have made, swallowing them with sighs and low moans of his own.

She was his. He was hers. And he would remind her of that from now until eternity.

His chest rumbled with a growl as he pushed into her, driving her against the wall. Their moans mingled together, sighs of pleasure intertwining in the space between their lips. He could feel her tightening around him, the way the walls of her quivered with each stroke. Being with her, inside her, taking her and tasting her was driving him crazy, enough so that the spell was beginning to slip from his grasp.

He pulled them back, but only barely, even as he continued to drive into her, her sounds of encouragement, her words in his mind, pushing him harder, faster, deeper into her. Kai released her lips to assault her throat with his mouth, marking her with every bite, every kiss, every suckle of her soft brown skin. He could feel her breath as it came and went in ragged gasps from the effort of staying silent and it spiked his desire for her.

That Bonnie took his commands in this, the way he took hers, was exhilarating. They were perfectly matched, had been all these years, and they proved it time and time again. And it wasn't just the sex. It was the way they danced together; how their magic was always singing with life on the surface of their skin. Kai and Bonnie moved in concert and knew how to work a room just as easily as they worked each other.

And he was working her now, winding her up, bringing her to the very brink and then holding her there - his movements slowing, the passion still there but gentler. When she seemed about to step away from the edge, his fervor increased again, thrusting into her until he could feel her need to cry out.

Kai captured her lips again, muffling her cries with his lips and his tongue. He gave a cry of his own, lost in the caverns of her mouth as he spilled into her. And still he took her. Took her further, higher, deeper into the moment until she was writhing against him, the waves of her release spiraling them both into a moment of ecstasy.

Bonnie leaned forward to kiss him, capturing his lips in his with a lingering hunger from the pleasure she had been given. After the swift kiss, she pressed her forehead against his - feeling the sweat of her brow against his own. "I think it's time we make our exit, don't you?"

He said nothing, just gave her a knowing smirk and she smirked back to him in return.

With a spark of magic springing up into her green eyes, the world swirled around them as they disappeared - the spell whispered against each other's mouths. He was ready to take her again. Kai wanted to be with her - focusing only on her and all the love he wanted to give to her throughout the night.

They reappeared in their living room just beside the couch. He watched Bonnie smile as he fell to the soft leather sectional. He watched her reach behind her to undo the clasp at the back of her neck. He watched as the gown fell to her feet with a hushed whisper. He watched her looking at him with longing and purpose before falling into his arms again - their lips crashing together in that all-too familiar dance.

All that mattered was each other, entangled in each other's arms and affections.

That's all that ever mattered. All that ever would.

* * *

Kai watched Bonnie as she smiled softly, the afternoon sun beating down overhead. Autumn's soft breeze tickled his face as he peered into the canopy of trees filled with brightly colored leaves. The branches would soon shed their Fall clothes, making them bare for the oncoming Winter months. But he didn't mind. Winter was one of his favorite seasons as it yielded into Spring. Winter Solstice would be around the corner, but not before he attended to his duties as the head of the Gemini for the start of the New Year.

It was something Kai had been a fan of. He had been enjoying the time off with Bonnie - shirking his duties and leaving things to his second when he wasn't around. He was still young and had plenty of time to truly set his pace for how he was going to lead. After all, his original had been to wipe out the Gemini. Bonnie changed that side of him and he hadn't harbored such murderous intent since he merged with his younger brother, Lucas.

The Elders were impatient. They were waiting for new leaders. Jo had explicitly expressed wanting no part of it with his nieces. Which meant it was up to Kai. He hadn't been worried about it but others were breathing down his neck and giving him no quarter. Not since Bonnie had given birth to their daughter, Lydia, and it was _only then_ did they fully welcome her into the fold. It sickened him.

Kai was no fool. His eyes wandered to Bonnie's swollen belly and was thankful that she was preoccupied with their nature walk instead of him. It would become problematic if the little one practically kicking and ready to break free from inside of her wound up being twins. _The Elders will have an absolute fucking field day over it. I can see it already..._

Bonnie smiled as Kai hefted a sleepy Lydia onto his shoulders, piggy backing her as they walked leisurely through the park under the shade of multi-colored leaves. It would probably rain soon, but that would not be for at least another hour or so. The healers he'd appointed to be Bonnie's caretakers specifically told her that she needed to get as much rest and relaxation as possible. Which meant she would need to take off from her rogue witch hunting duties and leave that job to him and the enforcers in his coven.

What choice did she really have? None, that was what. Kai nagged her about taking care of her health, eating properly and on time, and maintaining a strict sleep schedule. She was used to it, though - or at least should have been. Bonnie had to endure the same thing back when she was pregnant with their now two year-old daughter.

Kai cooed softly to their daughter as the young girl slowly drifted off to sleep.

"I think she wore herself out, don't you?"

Kai chuckled, joyful in his fit of amusement. It was pure hell chasing after his daughter 90% of the time. If her curiosity wasn't getting the better of her like any feline on the street, Lydia was speeding around existence with the speed of a Mexican rat. He had no idea where she got so much energy from, but he wouldn't dare smother it. Being brought into the world in a such a short amount of time before, she had already shown a fair level of her own idea of expression.

Either that or Lydia had it out for her father.

All in all, it was nothing he couldn't handle. Regardless of how he acted when he was younger, Malachai Bennett-Parker was no longer that person. Whether the people around him believed him or not didn't matter.

His family did.

"How is coven business these days? Bored since I'm not there at the meetings?"

Kai glanced at Bonnie for a moment before he licked his lips in thought. "Oh Bonster, you know the world is boring without your presence. Tease." With a playful eye roll, he sighed in an exaggerated manner.

Bonnie had only started attending coven meetings in the last year. Kai had wanted her far away from those archaic customs for the time being. He was used to all that bullshit but she wasn't. And the less stress on her plate, the better.

It was no secret among the Gemini that the two of them had been joined to be one in holy matrimony. Secret, no, but they probably still felt the stinging burn of that shock. A few of the witches in the coven were their own friends/affiliates/whatever. Now, anyway. To be honest, he had lost count of how many of those friends/affiliates/whatevers hated his guts. But that face they made when Kai announced the news of their marriage - _that face_ \- it still filled him with that evil sort of pleasure when he replayed it in his head. Even to the point that he could be sexually pleasured from it if he wanted to.

So, with that smug look stamped onto his face, they were married. They had a child together. Their family was steadily growing. He had gotten what he had wanted and no one could do anything about it. And now? _Now?_ If anything happened, Bonnie's might was no laughing matter - her inner momma bear worn proudly and fiercely on her person.

Never fuck with a woman who found her place in life.

Shuffling Lydia off his back and into his arm, the small child whined softly as she clung to his shirt, resting her head on his shoulder. Kai's slate-blue eyes glanced at Bonnie and the bump she was carrying. She had been on maternity leave for a while and though he knew it was hard for her, he couldn't help but keep her from doing the things she was used to doing. Even after having their son, he'd have to keep her inactive. But even that was a job in itself. _Heh._

"I blame you," she said suddenly and his eyes widened slightly as he looked at her. There was a teasing glint in her eyes that was hard to miss. "I blame you for all of it."

Kai gasped at the words that Bonnie was spewing. She blamed him for everything? "So, let me get this straight? You blame me for being a kind, loving husband who is not only worried about your well being, but the well being of our unborn child?" He saw her rolling her eyes and continued. "You blame me for rubbing your feet, caressing your tummy and being your crutch when you need it?"

Bonnie hummed as if in thought, then nodded. "Yep. I do."

He blinked, then laughed. "Well, I can live with that. I don't need you falling out after all." He shrugged, dancing a step away from Bonnie as she tried to elbow him.

She had this nasty habit of doing things at 120%. The last thing Kai wanted was her intense work ethic to get in the way of everything else important in life. Mainly her health. Besides, she couldn't hide anything from him. It wasn't allowed!

"Care is doing some dinner party...thing. We're invited."

Kai wrinkled his nose. The fights between him and Caroline Forbes were infamous. Especially in the beginning. But for Bonnie's sake, he had clammed up and listened and, in time, he and Caroline had actually forged an interesting friendship. Nothing got past that girl, bloodsucker as she was. She had weeded out Kai's feelings for Bonnie months before they'd come out and said anything. Finding out the truth of how he and Bonnie _really met_ came with serious repercussions, but with that came some type of masochistic friendship he never thought he'd have in her.

In other words, if he called her right now with a dire emergency (though the words to each other may prove to be harsh), she'd still be there.

In all honesty, he could get along with most of Bonnie's friend's now - having shown the better side of himself. Kai even tried to keep in some sort of contact with them on a semi-regular basis so they could know that this life change wasn't just for show.

Sighing, he glanced down at his wife. "Fine, but I won't be responsible for the actions that happen from the two of us being in the same room. What time is she planning all of this anyway? The two of us might have... _previous engagements_."

She rolled her eyes teasingly. "In a week," she said easily. A soft rumble of thunder echoed overhead. The storm was quickly approaching and soon the rain would be upon them. She rubbed her stomach where their was behaving himself inside of his mother - deciding to not stir up a fuss yet. "And it is that same _previous engagements_ excuse that has me sporting this belly now."

Kai snorted his eyes playfully. Well, his wife was right. He'd used the "previous engagements" excuse many a time and it finally caught up to him. If he didn't want to catch up on his work in the coven, he'd tell his colleagues he had "previous engagements". If he didn't want to go to any sort of gathering, he'd claim that he had "previous engagements".

If there was one thing Malachai Bennett-Parker enjoyed doing with all his heart and soul, it was making love to his wife. He did it at every chance he got. In every way. In every room she would allow (at some point, there was a disagreement about being intimate in a common space area and he claimed that was what chemical cleaners were for). There was nothing he enjoyed more and no one was going to take it away from him except Bonnie herself.

No matter how much time passed by, no matter what was thrown in their way, Kai would always love her. He would always put her first.

* * *

Bonnie didn't know what kind of intricate web her husband had woven to convince her to have another child, but she made a mental note to never fall for it again. _Ever._ Not in a million years. Not in _tens_ of millions of years. In fact, once the days for her recovery process were complete and their son's 100th day birthday passed, she was going to make Kai sign a blood oath that if she should get pregnant again, she had license to murder her husband.

...okay, perhaps that was going a bit too far.

If Kai had any idea the pains of giving natural birth entailed, he wouldn't have been so inclined to readily push for a third child. If his claim to not wanting to cause his lovely wife pain and suffering were true. The fact that he was waiting with great anticipation for their child to be brought into the world was just further proof. All those "previous engagements" and stealing her breath away, locking eyes with her so that she had no choice but to stay transfixed in his line of sight...

The way he never failed to remind her just how much she was in love with him.

Despite all of that, it didn't stop Bonnie from wanting to curse her husband's name. She didn't, however, actually curse him due to the simple fact that she was slightly superstitious. If any negative energies were directed toward blood relations of the child being born into the world, the child would suffer some sort of physical or mental ailments.

Lydia and Josiah had already been dropped at the nursery when they arrived at the hospital. The physicians wasted no time hauling her off to the delivery room since her water broke at three in the morning and her first contractions began promptly at four. Here it was, eight in the morning the last she checked the clock on the wall - four hours into labor - and there was still no sign that the baby was coming. Josiah had also been a morning child. She prayed that Emilio would be the same.

Her soft hand gripped onto her husband's slightly more calloused one, the sweat touching her brow. Kai quickly wiped it away. She sent silent thanks his way, her brows knitting together as another wave of pain hit her.

"Ready, Bonster?"

She nodded, biting back a groan.

"Because I kinda need you to be ready even if you're not."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, then cried as yet another wave of pain came forth. _Quick breaths. Lamaze. Breathe._

"I mean...it's _my_ son."

" _Whose_ son?!" she roared. Her voice was strained, throat thick with pain, but she still managed to stay snippy at him. _Let him get on this trolley and push then!_

"... _our_ son, but just be careful. We don't need him with any weird birth defects or anything. J-just do it!"

"MALACHAI!" she managed to scream, her hand gripping tighter to his as she pulled him down closer so their faces were barely touching.

Her doctor continuously encouraged her to keep the pace she'd been making up till this point. Tears filled her eyes and a vein was most likely bulging at her temple. This was utter misery. Mi-se-ry.

A threatening growl pushed from her throat. "This is all your fault! Now if you don't call Caroline and have her here within the hour, I promise you that our son will never know his father! Do you hear me?! NEVER!"

Getting all worked up like that only further issued a push. Emilio did not like the strain that his mother was putting on her abdominal muscles in order to pass threats to his father. Bonnie knew that her threats were just those: threats. Hardly idle ones, but she could never actually keep Kai from his children. Just like she could hardly stop loving him as much as she did.

But oh, by the spirits of her ancestors, did she want to string him up and leave him out for the crows to peck at.

"I'm not leaving you! Are you nuts?!"

"Yes," she breathed, opening one of her eyes that had been squeezed shut in a vain attempt to stave off the pain. "I must be if I'm going through this agony a _third time_ because of you!"

Bonnie only meant half of what she was spouting. It was the pain and lack of painkillers. And that incessant coaxing from the physician who was urging her to keep pushing. Hadn't she been pushing for the past few hours? How much more pushing was necessary? Why was Emilio being so stubborn? Why couldn't he be quick like his siblings and be out in an hour? Truly, this was an arduous labor.

She watched Kai shaking his head at her request. Why did he insist on being so stubborn? All she wanted was for her best friend to be here for the birth of her nephew. Was that so much to ask for? Clearly it must have been since Kai was being completely unreasonable about all of this.

"I'm not going, alright? Blondie is a vampire and can just blur her ass here. Besides, it's time for you to push!"

"She isn't a mind reader and she lives locally you stupid-!"

Bonnie's insult was sliced in half by another bout of pain followed closely by her screams. The Bennett Matriarch had a certain fond admiration for her mother now. To think that the woman had given birth to her _naturally_? She'd missed the window for the epidural this go around.

In the midst of all the pushing and talking and sweating and clapping... _Wait. Clapping?_

Bonnie cast her green eyes over to where Kai was and, sure enough, there he was clapping his hands in a rhythmic fashion. The sight was ridiculous - but what came falling from his lips was even more outrageous. "Push him out, shove him out, waaaaaay out!"

 _Oh God, help me..._

"Push him out, shove him out, waaaaaaaay out!"

"Malachai? Caroline." The words pushed through her clenched teeth. " _Now_. RIGHT NOW!"

She would have her family present or so help her.

So. Help. Her.


	6. Chapter 6

"Mom?"

Bonnie hummed, her hands ceasing their motions while still holding onto the mortar and pestle. She looked up, her eyes meeting the curious blues of her daughter, Lydia, as she peered over the table. The witch smiled as Lydia's eyes continued to wander across the counter - noting all the various ingredients that were spread out across a drying towel.

"Yes, Liddy, what is it?"

The ever curious eleven-year-old reached out and poked at the mortar and then to the many empty glass vials. "Whatcha doing?"

She flashed her daughter an even wider grin. "Making spells." Lydia's eyes lit up like Christmas morning and she laughed. "Did you want to help me?"

"Yeah!"

Bonnie helped Lydia as she scrambled up onto one of the stools situated at the island in the kitchen. She gently slid the mortar and pestle to her daughter - Lydia's expression growing more and more determined. Her hands moved as if she still were holding the items and the young witch mimicked her movements as she ground the items in the mortar. Bonnie gave her step by step instructions and was pleased to see how easily her daughter was moving on to the next step without her.

Lydia had always been a smart thing and had an exceptional knack for potion making.

The rush of hurried footsteps were heard just outside and Bonnie looked away in time to see Abigail and Thomas barreling into the kitchen. The twins were holding each other's hands and her brows furrowed when Emilio crashed into them from behind. The three of them were sprawled out on the floor, whining in exaggerated agony as Josiah appeared in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. Lydia continued grinding things in the mortar - unfazed by the sudden commotion.

"Josiah?" Bonnie called to her son, her question clear without it needing to be stated.

The nine-year-old shrugged and pointed at the heap on the floor. Her eyes followed where he was pointing and she was shocked to see an intricate wooden puzzle box held in the air by Emilio. The rest of him was buried under the weight of her two-year-old twins.

"Emilio, where did you find that?" She made sure her tone didn't sound accusatory. Bonnie was genuinely curious.

The boy grunted, shoving his brother and sister off of him and they giggled in delight while trying to reach for the box. Emilio held it out of their reach. "The attic."

"Huh." She leaned against the counter, her hands slipping into the pockets of her apron as she took a moment to think. "So that's where he put it."

"I found it! I found it!" chimed Abigail as she continued to reach for the puzzle box. "Gimme it, Leo! Gimme!"

Emilio tossed the box into the air where it was caught effortlessly in Josiah's hand. Both of the twins looked at their oldest brother before soft puffs of air were heard, signaling an oncoming tantrum. Josiah shrugged again as he met Bonnie's gaze. There was the trademark grin that belonged to Kai plastered over his features and he looked so much like a miniature version of his father that it was slightly off-putting.

Bonnie snapped her fingers and the box flew from his hand and into her own. The twins looked at her with eyes wide as saucers before she laughed, handing the box off to them. They gave triumphant cheers before skittering out of the kitchen- their little feet thundering upstairs to their room.

"I didn't think the twins would find it," came Kai's voice suddenly.

Bonnie jumped, turning quickly to see her husband now seated in the spot she'd just vacated. She hated when he did that. Kai winked at her narrow-eyed gaze, returning his attention to their daughter.

He handed Lydia a small quartz for her to grind up in the mortar. "I figured it would be our little princess."

Kai pressed a kiss to Lydia's temple and she scrunched up her nose while trying to bat him away. "I found one in the basement," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small box that had intricate metal gears attached to the outside. "Took me an hour to unlock it."

Lydia handed the box to Bonnie and went back to grinding. Her eyes met Kai's and he shrugged. When they first got married, they used to leave little puzzle boxes around the house as scavenger hunts for each other. There would be notes, gems, flowers, or other magical items inside each puzzle box. In time, they locked the puzzles up and hid them away in various parts of the house. Or, at least that's what Kai did apparently.

The uniqueness of these puzzle boxes? They could only be unlocked with magic.

There was a soft grumble that cut through Bonnie's thoughts. She looked around and saw a soft flush tinting Josiah's cheeks. Another rumble followed suit - this one coming from Emilio. Her brows raised and she heard Kai snickering behind her. A few seconds later, Lydia's stomach sang a similar song. Both Kai and she sputtered into tiny fits of laughter and she proceeded to shoo her children out.

"Alright," she said, shaking her head, "I hear you loud and clear. Go play so I can get dinner ready."

Her three children's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Stir fry?"

"Fajitas?"

"Spaghetti?"

They all said their wants simultaneously.

"Brownies!"

The twins yelled from upstairs and Kai stood up from and popped his knuckles. "Looks like I'm going to need to help you out."

Bonnie threw him a pointed look, her gaze moving to each of her children. They got the message loud and clear. With happy giggles, they skittered out of the kitchen and up the stairs. A sigh left her as she turned to look at Kai, her brows furrowing from how tired she was already.

"I wish you wouldn't spoil them like that."

He shrugged, making his way to her so he could pull her into him. Bonnie braced her hands on his shoulders as he leaned down to nuzzle his face into the crook of her neck. "Kids need to eat."

"You aren't seriously expecting me to make all that, are you?"

He flashed his patented 'I'm being a little shit' grin. "I said I'd help." Kai locked his fingers together at her lower back. "We should start putting magic puzzles around the house again."

"You think so?"

"Mm," he hummed, giving a slight nod, "it's good practice for them. We can't hold their hands through everything. They should figure out the basics on their own. They'll learn faster that way too."

She gave him a dubious look. "And if they stumble across something they shouldn't?"

"I'll shower them with praise."

"Kai!"

"I won't restrict them, Bon. Neither should you." His playful expression shifted. He was in his serious mode. "Limitation only breeds curiosity and that leads to mistakes. _Careless_ ones."

Her mouth opened to protest but she remained silent. Bonnie couldn't argue with him because he had a point. Her own lack of magical upbringing had brought on more than her share of misfortune. If she had only been given the right tutelage, she could have avoided many mishaps and saved her own life several times over.

"They need to be prepared for anything that may come their way. Even our own kind." His lips pressed against her forehead and she gave a sigh of defeat. "We don't exactly play fair either."

"The world isn't fair. _Life_ isn't fair." Her tone was bitter.

"Exactly." She felt him pulling her even closer and she looked up at him. "We can teach them to be as fair as they can, but not at the sacrifice of themselves."

She frowned. "I won't let that happen."

"Neither will I. While we're still around, we'll keep them safe." Kai waggled his brows playfully. "And when we're not, they can snap a neck or two."

Scoffing, she pulled herself from him and headed toward the kitchen cabinets. "You're the worst."

"Nah, I'm pretty awesome." He paused, causing Bonnie to cast a sidelong glance in his direction. "I got you, after all."

Bonnie felt like the wind had been pulled from her lungs. Kai had this effect on her from time to time, even after all these years. He was still a kid at heart, but then he would drop little adult bombs on her that she was never prepared for. Warmth touched her cheeks and she cleared her throat loudly, motioning for him to get moving.

"Shut-up and help me already."

He grinned. "Love you too, Bonster."

* * *

Kai knocked gently on the door of his youngest daughter's room. There was no answer, but he could hear her quietly sobbing on the other side. He knocked again, a little louder this time, and the noise stopped almost immediately. He knew she was trying to silence herself, pretending that she was okay, but Kai knew that she was anything but.

He'd experienced the same anxiety when he was her age. Younger, in fact.

"Lonnie, baby," he said softly, attempting to coax her into letting him in. She'd locked the door and, while he he could have easily opened it with magic, didn't want to invade her space without consent. "Let me in, hm?"

 _"No!"_

He sighed, pressing his forehead against the door. "Hiding in your room won't solve anything." He knocked again. "It doesn't make the problem disappear. Talking to me might, though."

 _"I don't wanna!"_

"Come on, baby. Please?"

Kai gritted his teeth, steeling his resolve to do this alone. While he would have appreciated Bonnie's help with this, she had been right. No one could help their child through this better than him.

Because she was a siphoner.

After a few minutes, the lock unlatched and the door slowly opened inward. Standing on the other side was his ten-year-old daughter, Lonnie. His little miracle and the last of his children. Her honey wheat curls hung like a soft curtain around her shoulders, her face aimed at the floor as she refused to look at him. Her shoulders tensed when Kai sighed, reaching out to stroke her head. She finally looked up at him, blue and green eyes bloodshot with the tears she'd been shedding.

He flashed her a warm smile in response to her sniffle. "Can I come in?"

She took a moment to catch her breath, nodded and stepped to the side to give him space to enter. Once inside, he heard her shut the door and watched Lonnie immediately flop herself onto her bed. Kai bit his lip to stifle a chuckle when he saw her groping blindly for her pillow to cover her face again, her hair fanning out wildly in every direction. He waited for her to still herself before sinking down onto the bed beside her.

Kai slid his hand over Lonnie's lower back, giving it comforting rubs. He saw her shoulders and spine visibly relax and he patted her head. "Max is fine, by the way." She slowly turned her head, eyes peeking from the edge of the pillow and his smile widened. "So you can stop beating yourself up about that."

Lonnie's mismatched gaze shifted to the floor before looking back at him. "...I didn't mean to. I don't even know what happened!" She lifted her head up from the pillow. "Is he really okay, Daddy?"

He nodded, gathering up his daughter into his arms as she clung to him. Lonnie trembled against him and Kai gave little shushing noises against her hair as she did her best not to cry again. "It's okay, Lon. I promise."

A few quiet moments past before she finally pulled away from him. He gingerly wiped her face of the tears and he could see the fear and confusion etched into her blue and green eyes. Kai smiled as he looked at her - his baby girl. He always did love how she turned out with heterochromia.

"I'm a weirdo, right? A freak?"

Worry lines formed across his brow and Kai pursed his lips together. "Why would you say that?"

Tears filled her eyes and Lonnie's face began to screw up in an attempt to keep herself from crying again. But water leaked from the corners anyway, despite her efforts. "Because I'm not like Liddy, Jo, Tommy and Abby! Or Leo and Max! They can do all sorts of things and I can't! I can't do anything and every time I touch something, someone gets hurt!?" Her fingers dug into his shoulders. "Why me? It's not fair!"

"STOP!"

Kai's voice boomed and Lonnie gasped slightly. He was sure there was something scary in his eyes, but he couldn't shake it no matter how hard he might have wanted to. These fears and self-deprecating things flying out of his daughter were almost word-for-word what he had once voiced many years ago.

He quickly came back to himself, the anger bleeding out of him and he gave Lonnie an apologetic look. "Lonnie, you're not a freak. You're just different and there's nothing wrong with that, you hear me?"

Her bottom lip quivered. "B-But…"

"No," he stressed, shaking his head, "you are just fine." Kai patted her head, eyes full of affection. "I was like you once. I still am."

Lonnie gave him a confused look and he held out his hand, urging her to take it. She did it hesitantly and Kai closed his eyes, focusing some of his magic into his daughter. A deep inhale was pulled from them both and a soft wind danced around them. When he opened his eyes, she looked a little more lively than she had just a moment ago.

"This is going to hurt," he whispered. Before she could ask anything, Kai's hand glowed red and Lonnie hissed in pain. His magic was pulled back, but only a fraction. The rest he let stay in his daughter. "See?"

"You too, Daddy?"

Kai smiled. "Yeah, me too."

There was a gentle knock that got their attention. When they looked to the doorway, there stood his younger sister, Olivia, looking both disgruntled and amused. Kai blinked, not expecting to see her at the house.

"Well, looks like I came out here for nothing." She folded her arms across her chest as she leaned against the wall. Lonnie scrambled out of Kai's arms and ran to her aunt, all but barreling her over.

He stood up, rubbing his palms against his jeans. "What's up, Liv?"

Olivia stroked her fingers through Lonnie's curls lovingly and then pressing her niece's cheeks together in a teasing fashion. Lonnie giggled and Kai watched his sister's expression soften. "Jo called me." She finally met Kai's gaze. "I think Bonnie might have said something?"

"Figures," he said, half scoffing but feeling a certain weight lifting off his chest. "Where is she?"

"Downstairs making tea." There was a stretch of silence that began to form before Olivia looked at Lonnie and smiled. "You mind helping your mom out? I think she was struggling a bit. I need to talk to your dad for just a second."

Lonnie nodded, gave Olivia another strong hug and then disappeared around the corner. Olivia waited until her footsteps faded off in the distance before looking back at Kai. That previous, soft expression was nowhere to be seen. She was back to the edgy sister he knew so well.

"Kai. It's coming up." His eyes narrowed but Liv gave him no quarter. "What are you and Bonnie going to do?"

"I'm working it."

"It's next year, Kai!"

He felt the muscle tick at his jaw. "I _said_ I'm working on it, Liv!"

Liv glared at him. "Does Bonnie know there's no way around this? Have you even told her about Jo's kids not wanting anything to do with this fucked up tradition in our family?"

"She's aware of The Merge. I've never hidden it from her."

"But now it's your kids." She smiled but there was no humor behind it. "You think Bonnie is just going to lie down and _let it_ happen?"

Kai averted his gaze. "It's not going to come down to that."

Scoffing, Olivia made to leave the room but paused at the doorway. She waited until their eyes met again. "We'll see about that."

* * *

 _ **AN:** Not gonna lie, guys, this chapter had me feeling a certain kinda way. Bonkai with kids... Just, lord it goes downhill from here peeps. Love you, mean it!_


	7. Chapter 7

This was hell.

Bonnie was in hell.

Well, it was a good run while it lasted.

In the last six months, she'd had so many regrets. They would probably pass in time. They would probably disappear altogether and she'd laugh about it later.

But right now, Bonnie couldn't stop crying.

She was angry. She was sad. She was a mixture of everything in between.

Bonnie wanted to die and Kai wasn't letting her. But she'd be damned if she watched her kids becoming victims to the dark customs of the Gemini. She wouldn't watch this and Kai wouldn't make her watch.

It was a stand-off in the kitchen. There was no one else in the house. Just them. The kids were staying with friends or family. Kai had wanted them to be alone for this conversation.

She sneered. He should have known that this talk would spiral into this.

She wiped the blood from her cheek and picked up the knife. The knife he'd managed to knock out of her hand twice now. Bonnie wouldn't let him do it a third time. Kai knew this. His eyes followed the blade as she pressed it against her neck. A thin trail of red wept from the edge.

"Don't. Move."

"Bon…" Kai slid his foot forward, his hands held up just in front of him.

The knife went deeper into her skin. Bonnie had barely felt the pain. But Kai looked like he had been the one wounded. She wouldn't hesitate. "I said don't move."

His hands curled into fists before lowering to his sides. "Bonnie… I can fix this. Let me fix it!"

She laughed as angry tears slid down her face. "And how do you plan to do that, huh Kai? What great master plan have you been keeping from me that is going to stop one of our children from dying?"

It was like she'd kicked him in the gut. "Bon-"

"TELL ME!"

Her hands trembled - the knife moving away from her skin. She'd unknowingly given him an opening and it was too late to recover it back. Kai moved in faster than she could have imagined. His hands moved to grasp her wrists and a searing hot pain flashed through her. Her power was being sucked right out of her.

Kai hadn't siphoned her in years. Bonnie didn't have the foresight to stop him with her magic. If she did, there was a chance she'd kill him. Regardless of how angry she was, she couldn't bring herself to destroy him.

Someone had to be around to make sure their family was taken care of.

Her vision was skewing and the world was going toward a raw-tilt. But she still tried to fight him, screaming at the top of her lungs even though she already knew what he was trying to do. This was Kai's way of sedating her - of getting her to simmer down.

Bonnie felt her knees give out and the world blurred around her. She never felt the ground because she knew Kai had prevented her from hitting it. A wave of nausea crashed into a wave of dizziness and she still kept fighting. She still kept screaming. But Kai wasn't siphoning from her anymore and her magic was flaring back to life. Bonnie was angry and she wanted to bring on the pain.

Even if it was her own.

 _"_ _MOTUS!"_

Kai's weight flew off of her and there was a loud crash. He grunted loudly and the sound of broken glass crunching underfoot was all she heard before lifting herself up off the ground. Shaking her head roughly, Bonnie's body felt like it was on fire - as though flames were licking her from the ankles up and she didn't care.

"Bonnie!"

"Shut-up!"

"Bonnie, please!"

"Shut-up!"

"Listen to me!"

"Shut-up! Shut-up! Shut-up! SHUT-UUUUUUUP!"

One by one, the windows exploded and rained glass inside - clawing at her face and arms. Her blood ran like ice, shredding her veins while her skin seemed to bubble from heat. There was a roaring sound in her ears - like a torrential downpour was overwhelming her but doing nothing to soothe the fire burning around her. Her heart thundered in her chest like the drums of war until it seemed like it would beat right out of her body.

And like a shock of cold water, she felt hands around her ankles. Bonnie's vision cleared for half a second and she saw Kai on his knees. She braced herself for the siphoning but it never came. His hands slid up her calves, gripping her behind the knees as he buried his face into her thighs. The whirlwind of broken glass was shredding them both - flecks of their blood splattering the kitchen floor.

There was a wet sensation dancing along her skin. Kai was trembling as he held onto her tight and she reached down to curl her fingers into his hair. She fisted the dark tresses, pulling at the roots so she could get his face away from her - to force him to look into her eyes.

A broken expression painted his features - so broken it almost made her weak. But her anger pushed her onward and she continued to pull - feeling some of his hair break off in between her digits.

"Bonnie... _please_ ," he whimpered as his eyes filled with more tears, "it doesn't have to be like this."

"Doesn't it?"

The sound of her own voice was so cold; malicious. Bonnie wouldn't have believed it was hers if she didn't already know it to be true. She felt her lip curling upward a margin.

"You killed your own siblings over leadership of your coven. You merged with Luke and manipulated Jo into handing her remaining magic over to you. You were even willing to punish your entire coven for what they'd done to you! Because of The Merge!"

"I can fix it, baby, just let me!"

"LIAR!" She was angry but the tears came anyway. Her grip on Kai's hair loosened and she bit back a sob. "If you could, you would have done it by now…"

She felt his fingers into her skin. "There's still time! I know there's a way to protect them both!"

A bitter laugh tumbled out of her. "How?" She emotions were battling it out: sorrow and rage. "Jo won't let her kids do it. She passed that responsibility onto you - to _our_ babies!"

There was a flash of guilt in his eyes and this only upset Bonnie further. "I'll save them from this. I'll do whatever it takes, Bonnie. You have to believe me!"

She didn't. She wanted to, but she didn't. He couldn't save them because he was the Gemini's current leader. That barbaric ritual was embroiled in his body - in the blood and magic of the entire coven.

"All I have to do is not die. I'll lock myself away if I have to."

"So you're just going to run away from this?"

"They'll be free to live their lives until another set of twins are born. It doesn't have to be our family. But as long as I stay alive, then they don't have to go through with The Merge!"

Bonnie shook her head. "You'd just isolate yourself? Never see your children again?" Her hands slid from his hair to cup his cheeks. "You said you'd never go back into another prison world."

He reached up to grab her wrists, brows knit with worry and desperation. She knew Kai was desperate. It was so clear on his face. "For them I would. For you and our children I'll do anything."

The ache in her chest intensified. "You can't."

"I can and I will."

She fell in love with him all over again.

"I love you, Bonnie."

 _I love you too._

"And I love our children. Our family."

 _I know you do._

"I can fix this."

 _You can't._

"Just let me, please."

 _I can't._

Leaning down, she brushed her lips across his and a soft sigh was all Bonnie could give as she felt his arms wrap around her. Even after all these years, Kai still knew how to make her weak. He still knew how to make her yearn for him.

Bonnie couldn't bear to live without him.

She broke the kiss, her lips gliding across his cheek. "...I'm sorry."

Her fingers dug into his skin and Bonnie sent forth a surge of magic, causing Kai to scream. He tried to resist, but her grip was stronger as she increased the pressure she was putting into his temples. A few seconds later, everything was quiet save for the _thud_ Kai's body made as he fell to the floor unconscious.

The steady rise and fall of his chest brought her comfort. He was strong. Strong enough to keep going. He would be fine.

Turning on her heel, Bonnie ignored the shards of glass imbedded into her feet and the trail of blood she left behind. The night air was cool on her skin as she stepped out into the yard. It was quiet now.

And without a second glance, Bonnie made her way toward the forest's edge and disappeared into the night. New determination fueled her steps. She knew what needed to be done.

 _He's right_ , she thought, green eyes lifting to the full moon, _there's still time._

* * *

She was gone.

Bonnie Bennett-Parker was gone and had been for five and a half months; nowhere to be found.

Kai was on the precipice of madness. The only thing keeping him from coming completely unglued were his children. Bonnie must have known this. It was why she left. There was no other explanation for it.

He still had a coven to lead and a family to protect. As selfish as he wanted to be to simply put everything aside and search the ends of the earth for her, he couldn't. Bonnie had changed him. His family had changed him.

But the Old Kai wanted to continuously peek out from the surface. His old self whispered to him at night when he was alone, cradling a bottle of vodka in the kitchen or curling up in the bed that he shared with his wife. It was empty now. So were many, many bottles.

Everyone knew he was a mess despite his attempted front to keep it together. There were tell-tale bags under his eyes and he was constantly on edge. At night, when he wasn't drinking himself into some kind of stupor, he was losing sleep trying to locate Bonnie with every spell he could come up with.

She was blocking him.

Abigail and Thomas's birthday was in two weeks.

The Elders were breathing down his neck about the merge ceremony. He would need to be there to witness the transition of power. He was still no closer to finding a solution and while he had opted to create a prison world to protect his family, Kai had problems focusing on the task and was exhausting his magic daily.

But he still tried - his eyes screwed up in concentration as he worked on tinkering with a version of an Ascendant he had started decades ago. Every single memory he could conjure up from that year, he tried to emulate it into the device. Kai was getting thinner but he would always remember to be there for his children.

Jo and Olivia were both worried and his own twin took it upon herself to visit regularly to make sure that he was taking care of himself. Olivia just wanted to make sure he wasn't running himself into an early grave before an heir was declared.

Caroline swore up and down she didn't know _where_ Bonnie was. Initially, he hadn't been inclined to believe her. With her superior vampiric senses and practically being sisters, she couldn't find Bonnie anywhere? He found that hard to believe. But after an intense throwdown, Kai had no choice.

He was starting to lose hope - believing that Bonnie had spirited herself away. Was that even possible? She was a powerful witch and her skills hadn't slacked off in the years. Kai made damn sure of that.

Days shifted by in a blur and before he'd realized it, the witching hour had approached on the morning of his children's birthday.

Time seemed to have stilled to nothing and there was an absence of sound. Kai was hovering between consciousness and delirium. Another empty bottle of vodka sat beside his tools. He was so focused on putting together the new Ascendant that he'd missed the shadowy figure hovering in the corner of his office.

"You look pitiful, you know that?"

His hands stilled and he dropped the small screwdriver on the table with a clatter. It was a voice he hadn't heard in many years. A voice that once had brought him comfort and made him believe that he wasn't the washed up freak of nature his family made him out to be. A voice that reminded him that he had power and wasn't out of the fight.

Lifting his head up slowly, he saw the person come into the light. "S-Sheila?" Kai barely managed to croak out. "Why are you here?"

She folded her arms across her chest, clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth. "To see you. And what a sight you are." The witch paused, canting her head slightly. "Tell me, do you think my granddaughter would be okay seeing you in this state?"

He jumped from his chair. "Where is she? Do you know where she is?" Kai reached out to grab the witch but was mortified when his hands passed through her. "Sheila, tell me! I'm begging you!"

A pained expression came over the older witch's face before she sighed. "You'll see her soon, child."

Kai watched her turn to leave - preparing to disappear into the darkness. "Wait!"

She paused and glanced over her shoulder at him. "...she loves you so much, Malachai. You and her family."

"Sheila!"

But then she was gone and Kai was alone once more.

* * *

Darkness had descended and Kai watched helplessly as his children stood facing each other. The Elders had to restrain Kai, preventing him from placing himself into a prison world. Because that would be a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. The Merge had to happen for the sake of the coven. A new leader had to be chosen.

Kai didn't even have the energy to fight. Not when Abigail and Thomas looked at him with determination and reassurance. How could he have brought them into this world? For the first time in his life, he had regrets about Bonnie and having their family. He wished he could go back and stay in that prison world.

That's where he belonged.

The wind picked up all around them - causing the leaves to dance and the lights to flicker. As he looked up to see his children, he saw them cutting their hands and placing them into each other. Abigail and Thomas smiled at one another and began to chant the spell. Kai felt like dying.

 _"_ _Sanguinem desimilus... Sanguinem generis fiantus."_

No! He couldn't let them do this! Not his children, his babies! Kai still had time. He could still stop this! They could still live their lives like how they were supposed to! It wasn't too late!

The twins continued to chant the spell, the world growing more and more dark and turbulent. He could sense the dark ritual taking root and Kai roared in outrage against it. This couldn't be happening! He wouldn't let it!

But something was different. Something was wrong. Or was it...right?

A surge of power manifested, exploding lights and causing trees to splinter from the trunks - destroying everything in the wake of itself. Kai and the others were blown back and off their feet. All except the twins. They were still holding onto one another, chanting the spell. But with the howling wind and destruction, Kai could barely understand anything that was being said.

 _"_ _Phasmatos Infero Eseri Gratas, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te…"_

Pain exploded across everyone's bodies, including himself. A scream ripped through the night and all anyone could do was writhe in agony. Kai was freed from those restraining him, but he could barely pull himself up off the ground.

 _That voice..._

 _"_ _Victamas Veras. Phasmatos Tribum, Niha Sue Exilum, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te."_

Fire erupted around the witches, scorching everything in its wake. Lightning exploded across the skies and cracks started to split along the ground - running like mad in every direction it could reach to. Everything was hurting and it was taking all Kai had to remain conscious - the feeling of his insides being shredded at the forefront of his mind.

 _"_ _Levam, Mina Sue Te, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te. Phasmatos Veras. Fes Matos Tribum, Mas Pro Tes Unum."_

Fighting the pain, Kai looked up to see Bonnie walking through the flames and chaos - her hair flying wildly as her green eyes took on a glow he'd only seen a handful of times. Even through the pain, he couldn't stop the absolute awe that washed over him. The twins stopped chanting as they saw their mother approach.

 _"_ _Victas Ex Melam, Phasmatos Vanem. Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te."_

Bonnie was terrifying and she was beautiful.

There was a flickering image behind her. _Is that…?_

But she had crossed the small distance between her and their children. Everyone was swept up in the pain they were feeling that they couldn't stop her. She was in complete control and Kai knew that this must have been the reason that she had disappeared. She had hidden herself away to reclaim old magic…

The black veins of magic were slipping up Abigail and Thomas's necks. The fear was etched on their faces and Bonnie grasped their wrists in her hands. Fire and smoke billowed toward the skies and she pulled her children into her arms.

 _"_ _Phasmatos Tribum Melan Veras Raddiam Onu Pavadus Ponemus."_

"NO!"

Kai screamed, but it was too late. Sparks erupted as all three of their eyes shifted to white and the dark veins slipped up their necks. A funnel of flames and leaves danced around them before the pop of sound burst like a magical bubble and they all three collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Kai thought he saw Sheila out the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, no one was there.

Scrambling to his feet, he fell to the ground beside his family. He shook them relentlessly in his attempt to wake them. Had they gone through with the ritual after all?

Suddenly, Abigail and Thomas both stirred awake. They groaned in agony while clutching their heads. Kai felt his heart leap into his throat as he pulled them into a hug. But his happiness was short-lived as Bonnie remained on the ground - the life seemingly pulled away from her.

"Mom?" Abigail pulled herself from Kai so she could reach out and touch her mother. Thomas did the same thing, but tried to shake her. No response. "Mom?!"

"Bonnie," Kai whispered, his voice raw from pain, "...what have you done?"


	8. Chapter 8

White.

Everything around her was white for as far as the eye could see.

There was no sound - the absence of movement almost unsettling. But it was a void that she had visited once before. Absolute nothingness. It could suffocate a person if allowed and yet it brought on a strange comfort that most weren't even aware they desired.

Her legs carried her through the void - feeling weightless. Like she was underwater, drifting along for the ride with no real destination in mind. Spinning around in half-circles, her eyes continued to search for something familiar. Something that she could reach out and grasp with her own two hands - tangible and real.

But what was she looking for?

Pausing, she looked down at her hands in wonder. Her fingers curled into fists, then uncurled and then curled back again. There was a single ring on her left ring finger - a jade band with a set of princess cut diamonds formed into a flower placed on a bed of silver blooming throughout the band. A gentle smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"After all these years, I see that boy can still make you smile like that."

Craning her neck, she saw a familiar face and her smile widened even further. "Grams."

The older woman smiled. "Hello, baby girl."

Bonnie encircled her arms around her grandmother as she offered up a hug. The warmth was comforting in that empty space. There was a weird feeling of déjà vu, but she didn't mind it so much. It was familiar and familiarity was something she needed in that place, regardless of how the empty space settled her.

They finally pulled apart and Sheila grasped Bonnie's hands in her own, giving them a gentle squeeze before pulling her along. They walked in companionable silence and it didn't bother her. Just having her there was enough for Bonnie.

And yet there was a dark feeling gnawing at the pit of her stomach.

After what felt like an hour, Bonnie felt herself stopping. Her grandmother paused, her hand still held firmly in hers but she turned to look at her. Green eyes met dark brown ones and the two Bennett witches stood facing one another. No words were spoken, but Bonnie saw her grandmother smiling - as if she knew something that she didn't.

The uncomfortable feeling continued to grow.

"...you're not really here," Bonnie said softly, smiling sadly, "are you, Grams?"

The older witch gave her a knowing glance, shaking her head. "I am, but I'm not." Sheila smiled. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Tears filled Bonnie's eyes as she nodded. She bit her lower lip in an attempt to suppress a sob. "Grams, what did you do?"

"I did what I had to in order to keep you safe," she said, reaching out to cup Bonnie's cheek. "Just like what you tried to do."

"Abby...Thomas...my babies-"

"-are safe, Bonnie. They're safe thanks to you."

"T-They are?" Seeing her grandmother nod in confirmation caused Bonnie to clasp her hand over her mouth, the relieved gasp muffled against her palm. Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor, her shoulders shaking as she cried. "...thank goodness."

Sheila knelt down in front of her and Bonnie continued to cry as she felt her grandmother's hands fall gently on her shoulders. After a few moments, Sheila pulled her into her arms like she had so many times before when she was a child. Bonnie shamelessly clung to her grandmother, crying until the ache in her chest made it difficult to breathe. Sheila petted her head and stroked her back in soothing motions - attempting to bring Bonnie down from her emotional roller coaster.

A few minutes passed. Or hours. She couldn't be sure. Time was different in that space they were occupying. She thought about asking her grandmother how long they were actually there, but Bonnie knew that the answer ultimately didn't matter.

"Breathe, Child," came Sheila's voice, soft and warm like the morning sun, "or you'll make yourself sick."

Bonnie laughed through her tears. "I can't get sick in this place." She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did.

Grams clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Not here." Pulling back a measure, she pointed toward the distance just over Bonnie's shoulder. "There."

Blinking, Bonnie turned to glance over her shoulder. Just a few yards away from them stood a bright red door with a silver handle and knocker. Nothing else was there. Just the door and miles upon miles of endlessness - emptying into the void. Her relief and sadness forgotten, Bonnie clambered to her feet and took a few shy steps toward the door. She'd done so without thinking.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked back at her grandmother. Sheila held a smile that spoke volumes. Bonnie felt her stomach tying up in knots.

"Grams…"

"Go on." Sheila motioned with both of her hands for her to get a move on. "Get going."

"I'm scared." Her hands curled into fists at her side. "I don't know where this goes."

Her grandmother chuckled. "Yes, you do."

"I don't want to. I'm not ready!"

"Yes, you are." Her expression softened. "You always have been."

Bonnie watched as her grandmother started to walk backwards, increasing the distance between them. She took a step forward but found she could take no more. "Please, don't leave me! I don't want to be alone!"

"You aren't, silly girl. You haven't been for quite some time." Sheila clasped her hands together, as though she were saying a prayer. "I'll always be with you. Always."

The door opened behind Bonnie and a blindingly bright light spilled forth, enveloping her. The image of her grandmother continued to get further and further away from her. She reached out with one hand, knowing it was in vain but she did it anyway.

Sheila pressed her fingers to her lips and blew a kiss to Bonnie. "It's time, Bonnie." The light continued to swallow her up. "It's time for you to wake up now."

"Grams!" The tears ran hot down her cheeks and fell from her chin. "GRAMS!"

 _"_ _Wake up, Bonnie."_

* * *

He wasn't a religious man.

He never had been.

But for six and a half months, Kai Bennett-Parker prayed for a miracle.

After Bonnie's interference with The Merge ritual, she had remained in a comatose state. It was like she had placed herself in suspended animation and had no reason or will to wake herself up. The physicians said that she was healthy everywhere else - her current condition a mystery. The healers in various witch circles all came up with the same diagnosis.

Bonnie _chose_ to stay asleep.

Kai refused to believe it. There was no way that Bonnie would sacrifice herself. She told him countless times that she was done with that part of her life. That she was tired of not putting herself first. She didn't even involve herself in coven affairs outside of her own freelancing because she wanted no part of being tied down by rules and regulations that would only hinder her from achieving her goals.

But their children… That was a different matter altogether.

Family meant everything to her. Ever since she lost so much of hers at a young age. After all these years, only her father remained. He'd retired a few years back and had been actively involving himself in family affairs outside of the realm of magic. Both Kai and Bonnie had preferred it that way.

Rudy had come by early in the morning to relieve Kai so that he could see to his family and coven affairs. The official transition of passing on the mantle was still a process. Mostly because he'd threatened to kill every single one of The Elders. As far as the twins were concerned, they didn't feel comfortable sliding into the leadership role while their mother was still sleeping.

Whatever Bonnie had done, she'd neutralized the stipulation of The Merge where a sacrifice had to be made. Not only were Abigail and Thomas completely unharmed from the ritual, but the transference of power had been divided between them. At least, that was the theory. There was also the theory that if one of them died, it wouldn't wipe out the entire coven. It was possible that it would only take out half of them. Still a horrifying theory, but better than the alternative. No one was willing to test it out and Kai wouldn't let them.

It was well past visiting hours. Caroline dropped off food for Kai and he thanked her. It was still sitting in the takeout bag on the table next to a vase with fresh flowers. Ms. Cuddles was propped up against the flower arrangement.

Even after all these years, she'd still kept that bear…

"Wake up, Bonnie," Kai whispered as he cradled her hand in his. "Please…"

Closing his eyes, he lifted her hand to his face - pressing the backs of her knuckles against his skin. She was warm, her breathing regular, and, for all intents and purposes, looked like she was resting. Yet Kai had never felt so far away from his wife as he did while she laid there.

Those who really knew Bonnie knew that she was a fighter. She wouldn't quit. Those who didn't know her believed that Kai should have been merciful and pulled the plug. She was suffering.

They knew nothing.

He smiled, his lips pressing against her skin as the heart monitor continued to beep faithfully in the background. "Don't you think you've rested enough, Bonster? You're so lazy."

Kai's thumb glided gently across her fingers, his nail scraping along the edge of her wedding band. She was taking a well-deserved rest without him. It wasn't fair. How could she leave him there alone to take care of everything by himself? Didn't she know that it was always a bad idea to leave him to his own devices?

Suddenly, the lights started flickering in and out. Once. Twice. Three times. Followed by an eerie wave of silence that blanketed the space he encompassed with Bonnie.

Like a gunshot, thunder crashed outside and the spidery flash of blue veins sparked outside the windows. The sheen illuminated Bonnie's face, giving it an ethereal glow before he was plunged into darkness. The sound of frantic footsteps thundered in the halls as doctors and orderlies alike were given instructions and carrying out those commands.

Kai wasn't sure if it was his nerves, but he thought he'd felt a twitch in between his fingers. The backup power finally kicked in and the world was bright again. Bonnie's heart monitor screeched off multiple alarms - presumably restarting its systems.

Already rising to his feet, he felt nails digging into his skin and his heart froze in his chest. His gaze barely had a chance to shift in Bonnie's direction before a shrill gasp of life erupted through the night. The grip she had on his hand intensified to the point where pain blossomed in the wake of her nails. But he couldn't focus on it.

All he could see was his wife, his beautiful witch, swallowing an endless amount of air into her lungs. The moisture left his mouth as Kai waited forever - his awe for her will to survive staggering. A bubbling cough exploded from her chest before it spiraled into a mini coughing fit. She thrashed across the bed, tugging at her IVs and yanking the machinery down where they crashed without a second glance from him.

It wasn't until he saw her green eyes shining under the fluorescent lighting did he realize he'd even been holding his breath. Bonnie's magic ballooned with a life of its own - permeating every crevice of the room and seeping into each pore in Kai's skin while causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. Seconds later, he was knocked off his feet and sliding across the floor.

He managed a grunt as his back slammed into the door, knocking about half the wind out of him. But he refused to stay down. It didn't take long for Kai to get back on his feet. Slow, measured steps were taken toward the bed as the last dregs of her seizure began to ebb.

Kai reached out to touch her but paused as the feel of her magic started to choke him. His fingers traced along the walls, pulling the power that had been bleeding into the surface of it into him. The shock of everything was starting to wear down now that he'd felt her magic - had felt _her_.

One last gasp screeched from Bonnie as she sat up, grappling at the air and Kai was there with his arms wrapping around her in a fierce hug. He could feel her heart thudding like a jackhammer against his chest as he cradled the back of her head. Her body slowly began to relax until he felt her hands falling against his ribs.

"K-Kai?"

Her voice was a whisper, hoarse from lack of use. But it still sounded like a lilt in his ears. Kai pulled her even tighter against him, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

"Thank God," he choked out, unable to shake the tremor from his words, "the Spirits, Buddha, the Saints, Allah, Ganesh, Shiva, I don't even give a fuck who was listening but I-"

Kai couldn't finish his sentence, the last of it lost in the wake of his sobs. He hiccuped and cried, a silent wail all he could breathe from him as his body shook from the thrum of his emotions.

"...Kai."

She called his name again and he couldn't even believe it. Someone needed to stab him to prove that this was real.

"Bonnie…"

"Kai…" He felt her swallowing against his shoulder. "I...I can't...breathe."

It was like someone had slapped him sober. Quick as he dared, he pulled back and immediately cradled her face in his hands. He gazed at her through the blur of his tears and he smiled at her frustrated expression. Her brows were furrowed and she looked every bit like she'd just woken up from a long nap and needed a cup of coffee.

"...I knew it," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. Her hands wrapped around his wrists and he felt the pads of her thumbs stroking the insides of them. "I knew you'd come back to me."

Bonnie gave a weak smile, tears spilling out the corners of her eyes. "...who else is going to keep you in line?"

They chortled pitifully together. Kai continued to pet her face lovingly and she grasped either side of his neck. For a while, all they could do was look at each other - devotion shining clearly in their eyes. It was real. It had to be.

Her brows knit together slightly and Kai smoothed his thumbs over them in an attempt to make them disappear.

"What's the matter?"

He watched her bottom lip quiver a measure before she took an unsteady breath. "I'm...I'm so sorry, Kai." She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. "I'm sorry I left you."

It was like a lump of ice had formed in his gut. She had single-handedly rescued their family when he couldn't. His beautiful, green-eyed witch had broken through a ritual rooted in darkness when he had believed that that was how it was always meant to be. Bonnie had risen above it all and fought hard to reach her goal.

A few months without her? To him, it was a fair trade off.

Kai grinned, shaking his head slightly. "Just promise me that you won't leave me again."

Her eyelids fluttered open and he was amused to see the surprise glowing in her eyes. They shifted rapidly between his own until a smile touched her lips. "I promise."

"And if you do, you have to promise to take me with you. No more solo vacations."

Bonnie gave a tired laugh. "I promise."

"I'll chase you to the ends of the earth if you try that again."

"What if you can't find me there?"

"Then I'll chase you into the afterlife."

"And if you can't find me there?"

"Then I'll chase you into the next life." He smiled, pulling her face close to his so that their noses were barely touching. "There won't be any escape from me, Bonnie Bennett-Parker. You're stuck with me."

Her fingers carded through his hair and they shared a languid sigh. She smiled up at him.

"Good."

A rush of air was pulled from them both as their lips claimed one another. Kai pressed his body hard against hers and there was a deep moan that was born in the small amount of space that existed between them. And what space remained disappeared instantly - breaths taken to whisper words of love before being overtaken once more.

Kai loved her. If not her, then it was no one else.

He was whole again.


	9. Chapter 9

_**AN:** Okay, so we're completely changing gears here. Now you all get to see how it went down between Elena and Bonnie. The scene that spawned the inspiration for this fic. I hope you're ready. _

* * *

_The world was a cascade of song and dance - teenagers all grouped together and enjoying the time of their lives. After all, it was Senior Prom. What wasn't there to celebrate?_

 _But in a world where all inhibitions were released, none of it mattered. It seemed so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Especially for a person who had seemingly lost everything._

 ** _For a person like me._**

 _Strolling through the crowd, her heels clicked to a stop and standing in front of her was Matt Donovan - poster boy and golden child of Mystic Falls._

 _Beside him? Bonnie Bennett._

 _Best friend, supposedly, and a powerful witch. Or maybe not so powerful because she couldn't really stop calamity. She was only successful in bringing chaos and destruction. Just looking at her exasperated Elena. Her gums itched and the desire for her fangs to drop and sink into her flesh was almost overwhelming._

 ** _I can't make a move with all of those people watching. With Matt watching me._**

 _"_ _Uh-oh," she said, her fingers curling into her clutch, "friend patrol."_

 _Bonnie smiled at her and it took everything Elena had not to lash out._

 _"_ _Hey. I know we haven't really talked since...everything. But I just...I want to say that I miss you."_

 _"_ _Me too," chimed in Matt, "and we wanna help you."_

 _Elena barely held back a snicker. "What're you gonna do, get me a job at The Grill?"_

 _She saw the hurt flash across Matt's eyes. But she'd been hurting for a long time. Why should their pain even matter?_

 _"_ _I just don't want you to look back and realize you missed out on the best part of Senior year."_

 _"_ _Spare me, Matt," Elena sighed, rolling her eyes, "If you had the choice, you would have turned off your emotions the second that Vicki died."_

 _"_ _Hey," Bonnie cut in, bringing her attention back to her. "You shut it off because all you could feel were the horrible things happening to you." Again, she smiled. "You still have friends who love you."_

 _She looked like she cared but it wasn't true. It was all lies and Elena had no room for that in her life anymore. No more time made for disappointments._

 _"_ _I thought you were going to bring Jeremy back, but it turned out you were just a brainwashed crazy person." The smile fell from Bonnie's face, replacing it with hurt and shock. Oh well, what did it matter? "So technically, you're a walking reminder of all the horrible things that have happened to me."_

 _Maybe it was because Elena had turned it off, but there was something that shined in Bonnie's eyes. Something she'd never seen in her before. Sure, her magic was out of control and she was doing the bidding of some freak magic user, but even so…_

 _She smirked. There was no way._

 ** _No matter what I say and no matter what I do, Bonnie will always care about me. Maybe that's why it won't be that hard for me to kill her._**

* * *

 _"_ _GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"_

 _Elena could hear the faint sound of car horns and the howl of the wind. That was Bonnie's voice. She couldn't let her get the jump on her a second time. If she saw Elena attack from the front, she wouldn't be able to overcome Bonnie's power._

 _No. A sneak attack was the best option._

 _There was absolute silence as she watched the scene unfold from across the field. Bonnie wasn't aware of her presence._ _ **I could end this all tonight. One less problem in a list of inconveniences in my life.**_

 _In a flash, Elena flanked Bonnie - her fangs sinking into her neck and her lovely, sweet blood descended her throat. She tried to fight her off, her body staggering forward. Elena would grant her a quick death, at least. She deserved that much._

 _Pain exploded in her throat and gut - searing her tonsils as she watched Bonnie collapse to the ground. Wh-What was happening? Why wasn't she dead and why couldn't she…?!_

 _This wasn't how it was supposed to happen!_

 _Her legs took a shaking few steps backwards, a red mist spraying from her mouth._ _ **Bonnie's blood… Why can't I hold it down? What did she do?!**_

 _This wasn't even vervain. This was...this was something different!_

 _Bonnie rose to her feet and slowly turned around to face her. The look in her eyes halted Elena's breath. She'd never seen her look that way to her in her entire life. Not once. It wasn't outrage or sorrow._

 _No. The look in her eyes was cold and malicious - the sort of look that a predator would have before striking the killing blow._

 _Her green eyes darkened and her features screwed up in anger. A pulse of magic blasted through Elena, snapping her leg below the knee. She screamed, falling to the ground in a heap but she wasn't sure if the pain from her being poisoned or from a limb breaking was what was causing her to feel the desperation clawing at the surface of her skin. Bonnie took a step toward her and she watched as the witch twisted her hand, Elena's left arm snapping and bowing backwards._

 _Another scream ripped through her, but not before Bonnie caused the blood vessels to explode repeatedly in her brain. Every muscle in her body felt like it was aflame. Elena barely even took notice that Damon and Stefan were approaching. All she could focus on was the vengeful fire dancing in Bonnie's eyes._

 ** _She...she's going to kill me!_**

 _"_ _Bonnie, stop!" Stefan's voice was soft as Elena felt Damon pulling her against him. "Bonnie…"_

 _Elena knew she had to use every tool available to her. The pain wouldn't stop. Bonnie's power was going to snuff her out from existence. "Damon, help me!" She could barely think and she could feel the blood starting to trail down her nose._

 _"_ _Bonnie, you're killing her."_

 _"_ _I know what I'm doing." Her voice sent a chill down Elena's back._

 _"_ _That's the magic talking. This is your best friend."_

 _She managed to push through the pain and looked into Bonnie's eyes. But instead of the typical fight that always happened with her - torn between doing the right thing and doing what she wanted? It wasn't there. She had resolved herself to kill._

 _"_ _Bonnie!" Damon snapped, hoping to get the witch's attention. But Elena knew better._

 _It was like Bonnie had switched off her own humanity._

 _"_ _No," she seethed, turning around to face Stefan, "she_ _ **was**_ _my best friend. That all changed when you both showed up. When you came into this town and brought your bullshit baggage with you."_

 _Stefan blinked in surprise. "B-Bonnie…"_

 _"_ _But instead of growing up a little and taking some responsibility, the blame gets shifted to me." Bonnie cut her eyes at Elena and she flinched as she increased the pain exploding in her head. An agonizing wail was all she could muster. "Like always."_

 _Elena watched her take a step forward. Stefan tried to grab her but Bonnie threw up a hand and knocked him back - his body smashing into one of the cars in the parking lot. Before Damon could even think to shield her, Bonnie twisted her wrist and snapped his neck with a sickening_ _ **crack**_ _._

 _She knelt down in front of her and the vampire tried to scoot back on her one good arm. Whatever was in Bonnie's blood was slowing down her vampire healing. Bonnie tilted her head slightly, the ruffles of her dress bunching up in the grass as she sneered down at her. Like she was just some bug..._

 _"_ _What was that you said earlier, Elena? That I'm a walking reminder of all the horrible things that have happened in your life?"_

 _She couldn't breathe, but Elena still tried to speak. "B-Bonnie...Bonnie, please…"_

 _"_ _You_ _ **all**_ _were responsible for my Grams dying. My mother is a_ _ **vampire**_ _because of the Salvatore brothers. I_ _ **loved**_ _Jeremy and have risked my life,_ _ **my life**_ _, more than a dozen times for every single last one of you!"_

 _Elena screamed as the witch's hands slammed onto either side of her head, unable to shake her fear as Bonnie's nails bore into her skin. Her skin sizzled from magic and she did all she could to fight Bonnie back but instead, the witch was pulling her closer._

 _"_ _You've got_ _ **some nerve**_ _, Elena Gilbert, talking to me like that. You ditched your friends and turned our_ _ **worlds**_ _upside down because you couldn't decide which dick you wanted to fuck more."_

 _She couldn't stop the gasp that spilled out of her even if she wanted to. Bonnie's lips formed into a smirk, but the smile never reached her eyes. Not once. Elena wondered if she should have been feeling anything akin to fear when her humanity was off. There was just no way that was possible, was it?_

 _Desperate to rid herself of the fear, Elena tried to pierce Bonnie's shoulder in a death grip. Her eyes flashed a bright green and another chilling snap cut through the night. Now both of her limbs were useless. Bonnie gripped her chin, forcing her to look at her as the blood started to seep out of Elena's ears._

 _"_ _If anyone is a walking reminder of pain and suffering, it's_ _ **you**_ _, Elena. You and those blood sucking Salvatores…" Elena tried to pull her face free, but Bonnie's nails cut into her skin and caused them to sizzle even more. She could only whimper as she was forced to look up at the witch; her best friend. "But that's okay. I'm going to kill two birds with one stone…"_

 _Bonnie thrust her hand out just as Stefan and Damon tried to rush her from both sides. They were rooted to the spot and then lifted into the air as her fingers curled toward the moon. The two vampires struggled until Bonnie's hand curled into a fist. Both Damon and Stefan's spines snapped - their bodies twisting in unnatural angles. A sound like a whip crack caused Elena to jump and she saw their necks twisted in opposite directions. Bonnie then dropped their bodies onto the ground and they landed with a sickening_ _ **thud**_ _noise in the grass._

 _"_ _You want to be with them so badly? You want us to screw off and stay the hell out of your life?" The cold smile on the witch's face melted away completely. "Fine by me."_

 _Elena wasn't sure if she was more beautiful, terrifying, or terrifyingly beautiful in that instant. It was like she was staring at the face of God and being judged._

 _The last thing she saw was her best friend twisting her wrist and the world plunging to darkness._

* * *

 _Everything was a haze. There was a distinct rattling of chains that brought her out of her stupor. Elena blinked slowly, her vision coming into focus. When she looked up, she saw Bonnie dressed casually - her boots scuffling along the dirt and stone at their feet._

 _Elena tried to move but found it impossible, her legs shackled to the cold stone behind her. A look of triumph painted itself across Bonnie's face and it was then that she realized what was happening._

 _"_ _Bonnie…" Elena's voice was dry and she barely managed to feel her tongue touching the roof of her mouth._

 _"_ _You're finally awake." Bonnie folded her arms across her chest and laughed. "I mean, I know I did a number on you but come on. Figured you were made of tougher stuff than that."_

 _Again, the chains rattled in protest when Elena tried to take a step forward. She noticed she was still in her prom dress and winter coat. Her hands were free. Only her legs had been chained._

 _"_ _Are you comfortable? I didn't want to restrain you all the way. Didn't think it was necessary."_

 ** _"_** ** _Bonnie! Let us out!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Come on, Bonnie, you don't have to do this!"_**

 _Though they were muffled, it was clearly Damon and Stefan's voices._

 _Elena looked at the large stone wall that was at Bonnie's back. Just over her shoulder, she noticed that there were intricate runes and symbols carved into the surface. The markings trailed all the way down to the ground and continued down along a path that stopped at Elena's feet. She had a feeling that those same markings were on the wall behind her._

 _"_ _What did you do?"_

 _Bonnie's hand slid up the surface of the wall. "Do you like it? I made it myself. Took me a minute - had to do a bit of digging through some Bennett literature but I was able to figure it out." She knocked on the stone gently._

 _Elena attempted to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. "Why are you doing this?"_

 _"_ _What are you talking about? I'm only giving you what you want." Bonnie took a few steps toward her as she clasped her hands behind her back. "I'm letting you be with the Salvatores like you want. I'm writing ourselves out of your life, just like you want."_

 _Suddenly, she clapped her hands and spun on her heels - lighting an array of candles that had been placed everywhere in the chamber. "Well, it's more like I'm writing_ _ **you**_ _out of_ _ **our**_ _lives, but what's the difference?"_

 _She tried to rush at Bonnie but was stopped short just three feet from the witch. The chains had magical properties to them. Otherwise Elena could have broken them easily. As sweat broke out across her forehead, she could only continue to blink in shock at the calmness that washed over Bonnie's entire being._

 _"_ _You can't seriously be thinking of locking us up in this place. Bonnie, come on!"_

 _Her laugh rang out, echoing against the stone walls. "And why not?"_

 _"_ _Because that's not who you are!"_

 _"_ _See, that's where you're wrong, Elena. Because that's_ _ **exactly**_ _who I am." Her eyes narrowed harshly. "The one thing I've learned about wielding Expression? It's opened my eyes to how much you all need me. How much you needed witches, period. And yet we're treated as less than bloodsuckers like you?" Bonnie scoffed. "Without us, vampires would have become extinct a long time ago. Because you gave up your right to stand in the sun when you decided to embrace darkness forever. That is your curse and your burden to bear, not mine."_

 _Reaching out with one hand, Bonnie's palm hovered in front of Elena's face and she crumbled to the ground - writhing in agony. She could hear Stefan and Damon yelling on the other side of the stone wall, but it was an incoherent jumble of sounds to her ears. Her nails dug into the dirt, scraping at the stone and cracking her nails._

 _"_ _B-Bonnie, stop! Please!"_

 _"_ _I won't be blamed for the choices you make. I won't be responsible for cleaning up anymore messes. For the first time in my life, I'm putting myself first." Just as quickly as the pain came, it disappeared and Elena looked up at Bonnie. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some scum to chase out of town and an immortal being to banish. You can stay here and think about all the misery you've caused and when I feel like you've learned your lesson,_ _ **then**_ _I'll let you all out."_

 _The witch pivoted on her heel and started heading toward a darker part of the cave - an exit of some kind. Elena fought against her bindings and screamed out for Bonnie to come back. She wasn't sure if she was enraged or truly hurt, but something inside of Elena snapped. Like a switch had been turned on._

 _And then the tears came full force, her screaming apologies lost forever as she heard a stone roll slowly - sealing her and the Salvatores inside._


	10. Chapter 10

"Kodi! Hey Kodi!"

Kodiak halted his steps and turned his head around to see who was trying to get his attention. He smirked when he saw his cousin, Xavier, stumbling through the brush and all but tripping over a few stray broken branches. His bright green eyes danced with excitement as he scrambled to his feet and bounded over to Kodiak happily.

A soft _oof_ pushed from Kodiak as he got mauled by his cousin onto the grass, wrestling him down and around all the dead leaves from the large maples in the woods. They laughed and roughed each other up like all young boys did at their age. The two enjoyed a small tussle before rolling off of each other and shaking the blades from their clothes.

"Hey Kodi? What are we going to do today?" asked Xavier, curiosity growing in his eyes as his brows waggled with anticipation. Kodiak knew that out of all of his friends and family, Xavier enjoyed the adventures he created the most.

"Well, I found this neat wooded area just outside The Falls. You wanna go explore it?"

Xavier's green eyes widened as a soft whine issued from his throat. "Don't tell me you were trying to find that tomb again," he said, a slight reprimand in his voice. "You're going to get in trouble by your dad if he finds out."

Kodi shrugged, sauntering off on his own as his friend gazed after him. "Well, if you're too scared to go, I'll just go by myself."

"I never said I was scared!"

"Then what is it?"

"It's just...I don't think it's a good idea. Maybe we should at least get some more of us to come with?"

Kodiak's mouth formed into a twisted expression, as though to say 'Oh come on!' But he let his head sag slightly and just walked off as his small satchel swung at his side. Xavier kept up with his protests until he knew that he was only going to get things done with Kodiak if he just did what he was suggesting first. So Kodi merely stated that he could do whatever he wanted and when he was ready, to meet him at the outskirts of The Falls.

Not wasting another minute, Xavier dashed off into the woods to gather up some more people.

As Kodi reached the edge of the woods, he waited half an hour for Xavier. His fingers dipped into the grass and he smiled, feeling the faint pulsation of magic beneath his palm. The magic felt familiar and warm - like it was something closely related to him. His blood sang out in greeting.

But there was also something dark about it. As if it were giving off a warning. He pulled out his notebook from his satchel and began scribbling some things down. He'd have to ask his mom about it later when he got the chance. Or his dad.

The snap of twigs and crunch of leaves caused Kodiak to snap the notebook closed. He stood up, turning to glance over his shoulder. Xavier brought two more with him - one he hadn't expected to tag along at all.

To Xavier's right was Janus, their werewolf friend who was only a couple of years older than them. He was going to be graduating from high school next year. The other was Amira, Kodiak's twin sister. Her light chestnut curls bounced around her shoulders and she sighed, shaking her head and probably wondering how she got roped into getting brought out there in the first place. But when her blue eyes met with his, they just smirked.

Kodiak's grin grew more when he saw Amira waving a map back and forth in the air.

The journey through the woods was full of laughter and jokes, Xavier mostly the one making them. Kodiak didn't do much talking but he laughed and smiled when it was appropriate. He was too busy concentrating on just what direction he'd taken to get to where he knew the tomb to be. Kodiak could feel worry clutching at him, feeling that he may have gotten them lost.

Janus, however, caught the scent of a trail marking Kodi had left behind previously and he also spied the magical burn he'd left on a nearby tree. They were definitely going in the right direction now. It wasn't long before they reached another clearing and were standing in front of a cave with a giant stone rolled in front of it.

There were weeds and vines and various other flora wrapped around the mouth of the cave. He saw Amira double checking the map and she nodded before rolling it up and putting it away.

"This is definitely the place," she mused, reaching a hand out to touch some of the greenery. "The magic surrounding this place is pretty old."

"So, what Aunt Lonnie said was true!" Xavier could barely contain his excitement. He was practically vibrating. "We actually found it!"

Kodi placed his hand on the stone, feeling the intricate markings along the surface and the soft hum of magic that was seeped inside of it. If what his mother said was true, then this was where his grandmother had sealed away an evil entity. From what he'd heard about stories from within the Gemini, the Bennett-Parker line of magic was not one to be trifled with.

Janus sniffed the rocks and wrinkled up his nose in disgust. "...something smells dead."

Amira smirked, elbowing his ribs gently. "If it's something evil in there, then we would want it to be very dead."

Xavier nodded. "Dead, dead."

Rummaging through his satchel, Kodi pulled out their Uncle Josiah's grimoire from inside. He thumbed through a few of the pages. He saw Amira shrug off her book-bag and did the same, only she pulled out their Aunt Lydia's grimoire. Xavier, not wanting to be left behind, pulled out his mother's grimoire - Abigail; one of the two leaders of the Gemini Coven.

Unfortunately, Kodi and Amira's father (and the other Gemini Coven leader), Thomas, was away dealing with West Coast coven matters so he had taken his grimoire with him.

They pooled over the books, studying what they may have needed to know in order to gain access to the tomb. It would have been easier if they had their grandmother's grimoire, or even their grandfather's. Apparently both books were sealed away in the Gemini Archives where access was restricted.

"I found it!"

"Me too!"

"Yeah, me too!"

The three of them jumped up and Janus ran across the small clearing after making sure that things were secure in their area. He came back just in time to see the three Gemini witches cutting their hands with a switchblade. They each took the other's palms and began chanting, the wind and magic swirling with fervor around them. The witches couldn't stop the smiles from forming on their lips and their friend, Janus, could only look on in wonder.

 _"_ _Terra Mora Vantis Quo Incandis, per Vasa Quo Errum Signos. Phasmatos selvus Terra Mora Vantis Quo Incandis, per Vasa Errum Quo Signos. Phasmatos selvus nos ex malom terra mora Vantis Quo Incandis per Vasa Quo Errum Signos. Terra Mora Vantis Quo Incandis."_

The rock shuttered, dust and dirt flaking off the edges as vines and branches snapped from being pulled apart. The carved markings outside of the tomb glowed a pale yellow before the door was completely opened. A chilling breeze pushed against their bodies when the stone fully rolled away.

The three of them coughed and Janus jumped behind a nearby bush to protect himself from the overwhelming stench inside. Surely what was in there had to have been dead by now. It would be safe.

Volunteering to stay and keep watch, they left Janus behind and delved further into the tomb. The walkway was a bit narrow, but fully opened up once they got to the heart of the cave. Kodiak looked around with wonder as his twin clicked on a flashlight.

"So, did your mom ever tell you the story about our grandparents?"

Janus shook his head as he stepped over a cluster of rocks. "Nah, I've heard stories about what this town used to be like before our grandmother cleaned it up though."

Kodi scoffed, pushing through another passageway. "You mean about vampires infesting Mystic Falls?" He rolled his eyes. "I don't believe it."

His cousin pouted. "My mom wouldn't lie about that!"

Amira cuffed Kodi on the head and he winced, sucking air through his teeth. "What Kodi's saying is that other than Aunt Caroline, we've never seen any other vampires in this place. It's hard to believe they outnumbered witches."

Xavier nodded and was about to make a comment when he seemed to have missed his footing and tripped into a nearby passage. A bright orange glow permeated from the space and Kodi was immediately throwing himself through the hole. Amira was behind him and they were surprised to see all of the candles in the room burning with a strong light.

"Whoa," they all said together. Kodi helped Xavier to his feet.

Entranced with the large stone wall that had similar markings as the stone that had closed up the tomb, Kodi yelled out when he heard his twin shrieking in horror. He and Xavier physically jumped, hands at the ready to start launching counter spells. But he looked at his sister and followed his eyes in the direction she was pointing at.

There, huddled on the ground, appeared to be a dessicated young woman. Her dress was in half tatters and had faded over time - the iron chains that bound her disappearing under the hem and ruffles of the skirts. They heard bones creaking, the dust falling off of her that had collected over the years.

Immediately the three of them clutched their bandaged hands to their chests. Kodiak took a cautious step forward, unwrapping his hand and letting the blood flow freely. There seemed to be a new light shining in the brown pools of the creature in front of him - the only color apparent amidst the dead, graying skin that made up the rest of her.

"...are you a vampire?"

The woman's eyes seemed to dim a measure and the arm she was about to reach out with fell back at her side.

He watched her glance over his shoulder and he followed her gaze which went past his siblings and toward the large stone wall. Which, now that he looked at it, appeared to be some kind of divider. Was there someone on that side as well?

"Are there others like you over there?"

The woman continued to say nothing. Instead, she averted her gaze and appeared to be staring at the floor. Kodi pushed past the others and placed his hand on the wall.

Amira grabbed his shoulder suddenly, causing him to gasp. "Jesus, Mira!"

"What are you thinking?!" she whispered harshly. "You're not thinking about unsealing that wall, are you?"

"Don't do it!" Xavier said, his previous excitement completely gone. "Let's just go! We need to go!"

Kodi shook his head. "You guys aren't curious why our grandmother sealed these vampires down here?"

"No." Even though Amira was saying it, he could see it in her eyes that she didn't mean it. She was curious, just like him.

So, after ten minute of bickering with Xavier, they all focused on unsealing the wall that separated the dissicating female from possible others on the flip side. They found two male vampires wearing tuxedos. They were also gray and shriveled, seemingly dried out from lack of blood.

Looking at each other, they placed a barrier spell around them before flinging their hands forward - flecks of their blood spraying across each of their faces. Their skin began to brighten just a measure, but only enough to cause them to jump up from where they laid prone on the ground.

Before the two men could jump up and feed, the chains that bound them rattled loudly and they fell to the ground. Only the woman stood on shaky legs and watched the three of them huddled together. They were about to lower the spell so they could leave, but the teenagers were immediately greeted by the sight of their aunt, Caroline, looking every bit as flustered and frustrated as they knew her to be.

"What are you kids doing here?! I have been looking everywhere for you!" Caroline grabbed Xavier and Kodi by the scruffs of their jackets. "Your parents are going to have a...field...day…" She lowered them down and it was at that moment that Caroline met the gaze of the very old looking vampire. "...my God, Elena."

"C-Care…"

"Kids," said Caroline, her voice deadly serious, "go back outside where Janus is and wait for me."

"But-"

"NOW!"

They didn't waste a second. Like they had been ordered, they ran out of the cave and all but plowed into Janus. In the middle of cussing and fussing at him being the worst lookout ever, Caroline appeared at the mouth of the cave and sighed.

"You stay here and keep watch. I'll be back." A low groan pushed from her throat. "I don't have time for this. I have two weddings to plan. I don't need their drama back in my life." She cut her blue eyes over in their direction. "If they try to do anything crazy, you lock them back up. Got it?"

The four of them saluted to her. "Yes ma'am!"

* * *

After Caroline returned with fresh blood bags, Elena, Damon and Stefan all stepped out of the tomb where Bonnie had buried and sealed them away. The world had changed and yet it had stayed the same. However, they weren't allowed to go too far since neither Caroline or the children were permitting them to step beyond the threshold of the cave.

Now that she was getting a good look at them, Elena thought the children looked eerily familiar. Especially the young teenage girl who had thick, soft chestnut brown hair and startlingly gray-blue eyes. Her heart-shaped face and full lips made her look almost identical to Bonnie.

Were these her children?

They had referred to Caroline as "aunt" so she could only assume. A weak smile formed on her lips as she looked between the three that smelled human. "Hi, I'm Elena. I'm a friend of your mom's." She was looking directly at the young girl.

She looked at her suspiciously. "How come we've never heard of you?"

"I don't know!" she said, unable to disguise the hurt in her voice. "We were like sisters until she locked me in this tomb!"

One of the boys sidled up next to the girl, eyeing her just as suspiciously. "...for some reason, I doubt that."

"My mom doesn't do anything for no reason," said the girl.

The boy nodded. "Our dad, however, is a completely different story…"

Damon growled in frustration which, in turn, caused the young boy at Caroline's side to raise his hackles. "Bring your mom here and she can prove it to you herself!"

Caroline hissed at Damon before kicking him in the shin. "Bringing their mother won't do anything."

He sucked in air through his teeth while taking a step back. "Geez, Bon-Bon still that pissed off with us?"

Elena turned her eyes toward Caroline, silently asking her if it was true. Was Bonnie still that angry with them?

The blonde sighed and shook her head. "These aren't Bonnie's kids. These are her _grandkids_."

Stefan's jaw dropped. "Her... _her_ _grandkids_?"

The three of them turned to look at the three witches who puffed their teenage chests out in defiance.

"And Bonnie?" Elena felt her hands trembling. "Where's Bonnie now?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you actually care. Last I checked, you switched off your humanity before you were buried."

"What happened to her?!"

"She's dead, Elena!" Caroline narrowed her eyes at the three of them. "She's dead and these are her grandchildren."

"No…" Elena fell to her knees. "...she never came back for us." Tears streamed down her face and she couldn't help but look at the children. She'd missed so much… so, so much.

"Why didn't you try to get us out, _Blondie_?"

"Damon, don't start," she said while pointing at him, "or I'll have them seal you right back up again." Caroline gestured to the kids and began ushering them out toward the edge of the forest.

"W-Wait!" Elena scrambled to her feet. "How? How did she die?"

Caroline halted her steps and looked back at the three of them over her shoulder. "She died the way she wanted to: of old age."

It was like someone had punched Elena straight through the chest. "...and how did she live?"

She heard her friend sigh, a sad smile ghosting across her features. "She lived the way she wanted to: surrounded by those who loved her and who she loved just as much."

* * *

Bonnie watched as Elena wept over her grave. Stefan and Damon had placed flowers there and Damon made an off-handed comment about her last name. And "who the hell is this Kai person"? She shook her head and sighed, not sure if she was comforted or annoyed that they hadn't changed.

Seeing Elena so broken brought a little bit of hope to Bonnie. Apparently she'd made the switch just seconds after Bonnie had decided to imprison her there. It must have been too much and it was a shame. Elena had missed so many things in her life as a result.

A large hand slipped into hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. She looked up and saw Kai looking down at her fondly. Though they had both grown old and passed on from old age, they were back to their young and vibrant selves now that they were on the Other Side. Kai had no unresolved business and was ready to pass on - to embrace the next phase of life and find peace. He was ready to be reincarnated.

Lord, he wouldn't shut the hell up talking about it.

But he'd stayed because Bonnie had had something lingering on her person - something that had prevented her from being able to leave. And now he knew why.

"Do you feel better now that your friend's out?"

She nodded. "I guess," Bonnie said softly. "...to be honest, I genuinely forgot about her for a bit. And by the time I remembered, I was well on my way to calling it quits for this life."

The world dissolved around them and he pulled her against his side. She wrapped one arm around his waist, snuggling up with her as the world continued to grow warmer and brighter as they walked on. Bonnie paused and Kai stopped walking so they could face each other.

"Thank you for waiting with me."

He flashed his trademark grin. "Hey, remember what I told you before?" Kai brushed a stray curl from her face. "No more solo vacations. I was included in that, remember?"

She smiled and then looked toward the light that was shining toward fiercely in their direction. "What do you think it'll be like when we get there?"

"I dunno," Kai said with a shrug. "But that's what makes it an adventure. We'll find out together. I'm here. You're here."

Tears brimmed her eyes; the last tears she ever hoped to shed.

"...and that's all that matters."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"From start to finish."

* * *

 _ **AN:** And that's it. I'm an emotional mess. Thank you so much, Bonkamily (you know who you are) for inspiring me for this story. I love you all so much. Please feel free to review and support this story. I cannot begin to express how happy I am to enter into the New Year with these feelings of accomplishment! See you all in The Reset Series! MUAH!_


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